Tween the Ditches
by T.S. Blue
Summary: Just keeping their feet on solid ground becomes a challenge as those Duke boys get in over their heads while trying to repay a debt. Rated T for questionable language and some violence. Complete.
1. Twisted Ankles and Sore Toes

_Author's note: Hi all! It's been awhile, I know, but with moving once, then moving twice, job changes and the stress that those bring, well, writing had to take a back seat. That said, I'll never be as prolific as most of you, who seem to pop out with stories at will! I'm incredibly impressed with the work you all do, and seemingly effortlessly, too. Hats off!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything Duke. The bad guys, now them I gotta claim, whether I want to or not. Oh, and also one of the good guys. But they won't happen along until later._

_Cheers!_

* * *

**Chapter 1 – Twisted Ankles and Sore Toes**

When Bo lost his balance, Luke's first instinct was to snicker. Oh, he was going to offer his cousin a hand up, too, but not before giving him a hard time about going down in the first place. Once again, the blonde had been too easily distracted. Instead of paying attention to the rough terrain at the slope's edge, where they had been walking, he'd been complaining and getting himself worked up. The older boy didn't really blame Bo for his frustration; he was also annoyed that they were reduced to walking. Still, the drill sergeant in the back of his mind reminded him that there was no excuse for carelessness.

Luke's laugher died in his throat as he watched the way his cousin went down. First there was the way his leg twisted, and then there was the fact that he wasn't able to catch himself so he fell further than he should have. The landing didn't look very comfortable either. Plus there was the holler of pain, followed by silence. It took Luke less than a second to process all of this information and begin to respond.

"Bo!" he called, making his way as carefully and quickly as possible towards where his cousin lay. He tried not to dislodge any more dirt or rocks from the hillside, not wanting to send any debris to land on his remarkably still cousin.

"Bo!" Luke was just about there when the blonde shifted slightly and moaned. Finally, he was close enough to touch the younger man. "You awake?"

"Yeah," Bo groaned, shaking his head to try to dispel the muzziness. The movement only served to make him dizzy.

"Easy, Bo. Hold still for me now. What hurts?"

"Well, my leg hurts pretty steady, and my head bothers me when I move it."

The elder Duke boy retrieved rusty field doctoring skills from the depths of his mind. He'd stored away his military experiences and he very rarely chose to open that vault, but today he'd have to. Bo was hurt and Luke would hold back nothing where his younger cousin was concerned.

The head was likely a mild concussion, and there was nothing to be done for that except to get the boy to a real doctor. The brunette checked his cousin's leg, trying to be gentle, but there was no way to touch him without causing some pain. As Bo bit his lip, Luke determined that while no bones were broken, the tenderness of the area indicated at least a sprain, if not an internal tear. His cousin wouldn't be able to walk on his own.

When he was satisfied that he understood enough about where and how Bo was hurting, Luke used his soldier's eyes to assess the terrain. He was loathe to leave the injured boy alone, which meant that somehow the two of them would have to make their way back up the 25 feet or so that Bo had fallen into the ravine, over the unstable ground, strewn with loose stones and soft soil. They'd have to get to the top without rest, but Luke was sure they could. The problem was that even after they'd safely crested the ridge, they still had a long walk home. As daunting as it seemed, the older cousin determined that it was what they'd have to do, because he wasn't going to leave Bo behind.

"Cousin," Luke began, while placing a supportive arm around the younger man's waist, "we're going to need to stand you up and then get ourselves back up there."

The blonde looked where his cousin pointed and tried to get to his feet with help from a slightly startled Luke. "M'still dizzy," Bo mumbled, sliding back down.

"It's okay, Bo, just sit a minute. I didn't mean we had to go right now." Just like his younger cousin, Luke thought, trying to bounce right back to his feet after a fall like that. Not for the first time, the brunette mentally likened Bo to a horse. As a child the boy had been as spindly-legged as a colt, never as strong or naturally athletic as Luke, but bound and determined to keep up with his older cousin all the same. As he grew and his muscles developed, he became more of a racer, strong, sure and raring to go. If you asked Bo today, he might describe himself as a stud, but to Luke he was still that racing stallion, who, despite a leg injury, was trying to beat the odds and come in first.

"It's all right to place once in a while, cuz," Luke muttered, not aware that he'd spoken aloud until a confused sound came from the blonde's throat. Deciding against trying to explain his train of thought, the older boy simply asked, "Ready to try again?"

"Yeah," Bo answered, already pushing himself up. His cousin strengthened his grip, and together they rose. Once he was confident that he could remain on his feet, Bo nodded to the man at his side, and they slowly and cautiously began their ascent.

* * *

Sheriff Rosco Coltrane swallowed his embarrassment. He was going to have to find a way to explain his current situation to his boss. The aging lawman had learned that the man's bark was worse than his bite, but it didn't much matter. Rosco was easy to rile and the county commissioner knew it. He seemed to enjoy making the sheriff squirm with just a few carefully chosen words.

The sheriff adjusted his Stetson hat and opened the trunk of his squad car to pull out a length of chain. At least he'd managed to capture a car, if not the criminal drivers, and he would be able to tow both the vehicle and the evidence it contained back to town.

The lawman was losing his instincts and he knew it. The cause was not one hundred percent clear to him, though he figured it was one of two things. He hoped it wasn't the natural aging process, because he really wasn't that old, at least to his own mind. After all, there was so much he hadn't experienced yet: love, marriage, children. Plus he'd always wanted to travel, maybe even clean out of Georgia someday. And since he hadn't done any of those things yet, it stood to reason that he must be young, though he'd passed the age of fifty some years back. So he genuinely hoped that the loss of his street smarts was the result of having sold his soul to Hogg a couple of years back.

Most of the time he figured it to be an even trade: his policing skills in exchange for a cut of the take, and his lonely independence for the companionship of another human being. But on days like today, when he had actually caught the Duke boys transporting an illegal substance, but wound up with only the vehicle they'd been driving, after having been bamboozled again, well, he didn't gave a damn about "take" and "companionship." Instead of the criminals, all he had was the contraband and the car, and the latter wasn't even the General Lee. If he'd at least managed to snag Bo and Luke's orange stock car, he knew he would have been hitting them where they lived. But this was just a plain vanilla loaner sedan.

Rosco was unhappy. Boss was going to be livid.

* * *

Jesse Duke was out tending to Maudine when his big toe began to hurt. He eyed the old mule, carefully checking her healing wounds for infection. On top of being a mule, the animal was a Duke, and that made her doubly stubborn. Jesse had no doubt that given the chance, she'd re-injure herself just to show the old man who was boss. Confined to the stall as she was, she could only match the Duke patriarch's stare with one of her own. She was the seventh mule that Jesse had owned over his lifetime, and by far the most obstinate animal the farmer had even known. Which made her his favorite.

Two weeks back the farmer had been clearing away the debris after a late spring storm. A few trees had been lost, and while it was their time to go, Jesse could not tolerate waste. With the help of his aging mule, the white haired man had been hauling the trunks back up towards the house, where he'd have his nephews saw and ultimately chop them into firewood. Those boys of his needed plenty of hard work to take some of the energy out of them. If he didn't come up with grueling chores like this to wear them out, only the lord knew how much trouble they'd get into. They were good kids really, or they intended to be, but they'd certainly caused their uncle a great deal of grief. Of course, without them and their female cousin, he wouldn't be the Duke patriarch. He'd just be "old man Duke" living on his own and pitied by his neighbors. He wouldn't trade Bo, Luke and Daisy for anything in the world.

But those boys certainly could use a few more lessons in tradition. The never did understand why their uncle would use a mule to haul wood when the family owned a tractor, a work truck and a pickup, all of which could have been used to transport the remains of those trees to the old farmhouse. Heck, they'd even put their prized possession, the General Lee, to the task before they'd allow Maudine to do it. Their heads were stuck in engines and electronics, and they didn't always understand the value of more tried and true methods. Those boys went through tires, quarter panels, bumpers and paint as if such things were crops they could plant in one of the back fields of Duke land. And then there was gas.

Generally Maudine was much cheaper to run than any of the family's automobiles. Her fuel was often free, or at least reasonably inexpensive; the Dukes had plenty of hay and oats could be gotten remarkably cheaply in Rhuebottom's General Store. Maudine never blew a hoof, and rarely sustained body damage. Except that day when Jesse had been hauling the fallen trees. Just as man and mule were passing through the gate closest to the farmhouse, the boys' friend Cooter had arrived in his latest pride and joy, a Chevrolet Camaro that was long on looks but still needed some mechanical attention. If there was anyone with less sense than Jesse's own nephews, it would be that half-crazy mechanic. Only he would show up in a car that ran loud enough to wake the dead, and then blow the horn to boot.

Maudine, who'd been barely agreeable all day, took the intrusive sound as a final insult and, rearing slightly upward, turned away from where Jesse had been steering her. She moved incredibly quickly, despite the burden of both tree and farmer dragging behind her. Jesse tried his best to redirect the mule, but she was bound and determined to head for the barbed wire fence, and the old man's only option was to let her go or he'd be dragged along on his backside.

As if finally spotting the danger ahead, Maudine had turned at the last moment so that instead of hurling herself directly at the wire, she instead impaled her side on the sharp barbs. Not content with the injuries this caused, the animal let out a pain-filled whinny, then continued forward, tearing open several good-sized lacerations. Finally the log behind her had gotten hooked on a post, forcing her to stop all forward momentum, though the rearing and stamping continued.

What had begun as a battle of the wills between man and beast had become so painful and frightening for Maudine that she actually responded to her owner's gentle voice. As Jesse carefully approached the wounded animal, he was reminded of the many times that Bo and Luke had been so sure they were smarter than their uncle, had gone off and gotten into who-knew-what kind of trouble, and he'd had to come and rescue his hurt or frightened boys. Just like the mule, they'd suddenly changed their opinion of him, welcoming his help after the fact. Yep, it was a good thing that Jesse was a forgiving man.

An hour later, after he'd unharnessed the mule and returned her to the security of her stall, the Duke patriarch assessed the damage and determined that he'd need to consult the new veterinarian, Dr. Wooster. Ol' Doc Beech, who'd served the livestock and pets of Hazzard County since Jesse himself was a pup, had finally retired and moved in with his daughter last year. This new man, Wooster, had arrived about six months ago and set up his own practice. While definitely an outsider by Hazzard standards, being from New York, the doctor had been welcomed by Appalachian town all the same. Hazzardites were a friendly sort, it was true. However, they were warmer than usual to this stranger because of their need for a veterinarian. Doc Petticord could only be but so helpful when it came to patients with more than two legs.

Jesse would have preferred to care for Maudine himself, but some of the tears in her flesh were deep and he wasn't sure whether there might even have been some muscular damage, so he made the call. And Dr. Wooster, not having been a lifetime member of the Hazzard community, had been helpful and friendly, but firm in his insistence that he did not take credit. Jesse had been about to sadly send the vet back to town without him even looking at the mule, when Bo, Luke, and a very guilty looking Cooter joined Jesse and the doctor in the barn.

"You know, Mr. Duke, I think I have a solution to our problem," the doctor suggested. "Perhaps we could work out a trade after all, wherein I take care of your mule, and in exchange your sons there could do some work for me over the next couple of weeks."

Cooter snickered, Bo elbowed the mechanic, and Luke studied the doctor carefully. He didn't like being volunteered for unexplained work detail by a man he was just now meeting for the first time.

"Dr. Wooster, let me introduce my nephews, Bo and Luke, and their friend, Cooter," Jesse intervened, emphasizing the relationships amongst the men.

After a cordial greeting, Luke got straight down to business.

"What exactly did you have in mind for me and Bo to do in exchange for fixing up ol' Maudine there?"

"Well, now, nothing too much young man. Just courier work, mostly. What with all the house calls I make in a day, I don't get the chance to go back and forth to Capitol City to pick up new shipments drop off my medical waste. You see, the things I have to discard, you can't just put into a regular dumpster. It's got to go to an official medical waste site. And there are some large mammal narcotics that can't be shipped through the mail, because they could be intercepted and abused by those without medical qualifications.

"Me and Luke ain't got medical qualifications neither. Why would we be allowed to pick up something that can't be shipped through the mail?"

"You boys aren't narcotics abusers, are you?"

"No," both boys answered before looking at each other with raised eyebrows. They didn't much care for this new veterinarian.

"Then I can sign a release form that will allow you to accept and transport them."

The boys' eyes met again. An eyebrow raised, one shoulder shrugged. There was a slight tipping of one head, followed by another, and then Luke spoke for them both: "If it's what you want, Jesse, then we'll do it."

What Jesse wanted was not to be in this position at all. However, when he thought about it, had the doctor been a lifelong neighbor that needed help, he would have offered the services of his boys for free. Jesse's instincts reminded him that everyone was a friend until proven differently, and so he'd be glad to have Bo and Luke help this man until his practice was sufficiently settled to allow him to hire a real courier.

"All right, Dr. Wooster, you've got a deal."

And now, two weeks later, that's where those boys were. Jesse, having ascertained that it was not Maudine that was causing his big toe to hurt, now knew what he'd suspected all along: it must be Bo and Luke. Leave it to those two to find trouble doing a simple odd job.

"You and them boys is the reason there's so much snow on this here mountain-top," Jesse informed the beast, pointing to his own head.

* * *

"Luke… need to rest," Bo whispered. They'd covered more than half the distance back to the farm, and Bo had made a valiant effort, but it was obvious that he was flagging. Luke led him to a fallen log for a break. They'd only been there long enough for a single breeze to cool the back of Luke's neck when he saw his younger cousin's chin falling forward towards his chest.

"Bo! Stay awake!" Luke shouted, alarmed.

"Mmmph," was all that Bo got out before his body followed the momentum of his head, rushing forward towards the dirt and dry leaves at his feet.


	2. They Always Turn Up

_Hey! Thanks to everyone who read Chapter 1, and special thanks to those who reviewed. It's really great to hear from everyone._

_Dukes, Davenports, Strates, Coltranes and Hoggs - don't own those. Some of these other people are mine though. And some I can't be sure, like "Widow Brown" who only gets a mention, not even a cameo. Was she in the series? Did someone else have a Widow Brown? I couldn't be sure, but if she's yours and I stole her, please know that it was subconscious on my part. _

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**Chapter 2 – They Always Turn Up **

Ever since they were children, the Duke boys had developed distinct, and frequently complementary, personalities. Their Aunt Lavinia had always said that Bo could charm the cookies straight out of the neighbor women's ovens, but before they could reach the youngster's mouth, Luke would have tricked him out of half of them. She'd also described Bo as quick and Luke as strong, both in their physical activities and their personalities.

But now, more than fifteen years after losing his aunt, Luke found himself having to fulfill both roles. His strength was what allowed him to carry Bo while moving very quickly through the same woods and meadows that Lavinia had once called them home from at every twilight. The young man was well enough practiced at carrying the injured, and even as he used those skills, he declined to think about exactly where he'd learned them. He could not crowd his mind with anything more than the thought that he needed to get his cousin home and as soon as possible.

Bo had regained consciousness from time to time, but was barely coherent. The presence of Luke's arms, one around his waist and the other under his knees, kept him calm, and he was alert enough to put his own arm around his cousin's neck, distributing his weight more evenly. Though he couldn't think clearly, Bo was not terribly worried, at least not for now. Luke was there, occasionally speaking calming words to him. Everything would be all right.

Which was exactly what Bo was thinking when his older cousin put him down. He said the only word his mind seemed capable of forming.

"Luke?"

"It's okay, Bo," Luke said, placing a quieting hand on the younger boy's cheek. Ever since childhood, Bo had been easily comforted by a touch from his kin. Right now didn't seem to be any exception, as the blonde closed his eyes again, relaxing back onto the bales of hay that Luke had just laid him on.

"We're at the Watkins' old storage shed on the backside of our south forty," Luke paused waiting for Bo's nod of recognition. "I'm going to cross through the woods to the house and get Jesse, okay?" Again, a small movement of Bo's head, and Luke knew he'd been heard.

"I'll be gone about 15 minutes; you'll be okay." These last words were added to convince the older boy as much as the younger. For though he forced himself to stay calm, Luke was very worried about Bo.

* * *

"So what you're tellin' me, Rosco, is that you had them Duke boys dead-to-rights with these here crates of illegal intoxicants, and you let them get away?" 

The sheriff's shoulders involuntarily raised, bringing his hands up with them. The overall effect was of a man trying to shrink into himself, a look that was in sharp contrast to the uniform that Rosco wore.

"Well, I wouldn't say let, exactly, Boss. It was more of a… well they said they was workin' for that new veterinarian, Dr. Wooster. An' they had these papers saying that they had permission to pick up some kind of medicine…"

"Dat! I know that, Rosco. They had to get permission from me, too, to leave the county. How did you think I knew where to tell you to find them?"

"So, if you gave them permission to cross the county line, why was you sendin' me to pick them up? I can't get them for breakin' probation if you signed a waiver."

"You weren't gettin' them for crossin' the county line, you fool."

"I wasn't?"

The man in white found that his eyes were sore from rolling them up into his head so many times during such a short conversation. He dug through his desk for a cigar and a lighter. If Boss Hogg was going to have to spend another minute with this sorry excuse for a sheriff, he would need something to calm his nerves.

"No, you jackass. You was arrestin' them for narcotics possession."

"But they had paperwork from Wooster sayin' that they could…"

"Rosco, you pea-brain! That paperwork only allows the pharmaceutical company to release them drugs to the Duke boys. It don't give them boys permission to transport it, especially not in _my_ county."

"In your… oh. Gijit, you mean they had permission to pick it up, but they couldn't take it anywhere."

"That's right Rosco, not without _another_ waiver from me, which they didn't get. And you caught them with the contraband, but you let them get away from you!" Not for the first time, Boss found himself wondering why every single conversation with this man started in a straight line, but somehow would up making two or three full circles before it was done.

"I wouldn't say let…" Rosco winced as his boss and brother-in-law scowled at him. "Well, I mean, they showed me the papers, and then I was gonna bring them in anyway when Luke tells me he can't get out of the car because his door's stuck. So I said 'tiddly-tuddly' and walked over to open the door for him, when he slams it open and knocks me back. And, gyu, then Bo grabs me from behind while Luke picks up this old tire from the side of the road, and he puts it over my head and slides it down my shoulders so I can't move, you see…" Rosco demonstrated by keeping his arms at his sides while flopping his hands around wildly. Boss Hogg literally twitched with the desire to smack some sense into the sheriff.

"Well, I guess you get the idea," Rosco said, flinching. "Anyway, Bo, he took my gun and threw it in the trees, then they tipped me over and rolled me off side of the road into that gully…"

"It's a wonder you found your way out of there. Rosco," Hogg's tone suddenly changed from sarcastic to interested, "did you say that Bo Duke touched your gun?"

"Wijit! Well yes, but I told you, Luke pinned my arms with that tire…"

"Never mind all that. If Bo Duke touched your gun, then we got him on possession of a firearm as well as narcotics."

"He didn't so much possess it as throw it in the woods there, Boss…"

"Rosco!"

"Gij! Right, possession."

"Now go out there and arrest them probation-breakin' Duke boys!" Boss punctuated this last sentence by slamming his fist on the desk.

* * *

Enos was sitting at the bar of the Boar's Nest, enjoying his view as much as his lunch. Straight in front of him, Daisy Duke's lips were moving, and he could hear her voice, but the exact words were lost to him. He was just drinking in her sparkling blue eyes and dazzling smile, imagining touching her long brown hair, and trying not to think about the rest of her stunning body. The deputy jumped when Daisy reached out to toward him. 

"Oh, Enos honey, you've got tomato on your uniform. You need to be more careful," the barmaid said, trying to clean it off with a napkin.

Being on duty, Enos could not allow himself the luxury of being excited by the young woman's touch. So he jumped back off the barstool and grabbed a napkin of his own.

"Thank you Daisy, but I got it," flashing what he hoped was a charming smile.

"Sugar, you're just making it worse." Daisy came around the bar and tried to help, but Enos kept backing away from her. They looped around a few tables, with Enos stumbling over a number of chairs on his way.

It was into this awkward dance that Rosco stepped, upon exiting Boss's office. Grabbing his partner, the sheriff shooed Daisy away.

"Enos, now, lunch is over. We got to get out to the Duke farm and arrest those boys," Rosco informed his deputy.

"Arrest Bo and Luke! For what?" Daisy snapped.

"Daisy Duke, you just mind your own business. I mean it, now," Rosco insisted when the girl tried to interrupt. Leading his deputy out of the building, the aging lawman approximately described his conversation with the man in white.

"So I said to Boss Hogg, since that Bo Duke touched my gun, we got him for possession of a firearm, too, khee-khee! An' ol' Boss, he hadn't even though of that!"

"I don't sound like Bo so much possessed your firearm as threw it away," Enos commented, forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"Oh Enos, just hush. We got 'em on two counts, now let's just get up there."

"Yes sir," the earnest deputy replied, continuing to look perplexed.

* * *

"Dagnabbit, where in tarnation have you boys been?" Jesse snapped as Luke sprinted from the tree-line to where the patriarch was sitting on the back porch. 

His eldest charge tried to catch his breath and explain at the same time.

"Rosco… Bo…" were the only decipherable words amongst a number of wild hand gestures.

"All right, boy, just slow down. I know you boys is wanted by Rosco, Daisy called and told me that much. What I want to know is exactly why?" Jesse'd meant to be more reassuring than he was. He knew that whatever had happened, his boys hadn't meant for it to. Their run-ins with the law were only partly their own fault, and Jesse was aware of that. Still, his toe had been hurting for a good hour, and then he'd had another 15 minutes to stew since hearing from Daisy.

"Jesse," Luke said, still panting, "Bo's hurt."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" the older man snapped. Again, he hadn't meant to be so rough, but at least it was Luke he was talking to that way. The older Duke boy knew how to respond to the barking of a superior officer. His other kids wouldn't have handled it as well.

"Where is he?" Jesse's tone finally obeyed him and softened from anger to concern.

Before Luke could answer, there was a flash of white coming off of Old Mill Road and turning up the Dukes' long drive.

"Rosco," Luke said, still unable to form a full sentence.

Jesse nodded. "Get down, boy. I'll meet them out front."

Luke ducked behind the low walls that surrounded the old porch, while his uncle headed through the house to meet the law. Before crossing to the front door, the Duke patriarch cracked a window on the side of the kitchen that faced the back, allowing Luke to overhear the proceedings inside.

"Well, Rosco, Enos, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Hi Uncle Jesse," Enos blurted out before his superior could speak, earning him exasperated looks from both of the older men.

"Now Jesse, those boys of yours have gone too far this time," Rosco menaced.

"Oh, Rosco, you know they ain't done no such thing. Whatever trumped up charges you got against them you can just take with you back to town."

"Gij! Ain't nothin' trumped up about it, Jesse. Them boys was transportin' controlled substances without the proper paperwork."

"Now Rosco, both you and I know that Dr. Wooster…"

"Gyu, Jesse, now the doctor ain't Bo and Luke's probation officer. An' they didn't get the proper paperwork from Boss; not to be drivin' around with somethin' like that in their car. You'd think you Dukes would have learned not to transport illegal substances by now. Khee!"

"Rosco!" Jesse bellowed.

"Ijit! Now Jesse, it ain't my responsibility to make sure that your boys get the right releases before they take a job that involves drugs like that. Not to mention that they assaulted me, gij, and then Bo took possession of my weapon. So you just turn those boys over to me, kyu!"

"Rosco, those boys ain't inside this house."

"You're lyin'."

"Sheriff, he ain't. Dukes don't lie."

"Enos, just button it, now. If they ain't in there, you won't mind if I just wait here for 'em?"

Rolling his eyes and affecting a calm he certainly didn't feel, Jesse said, "Suit yourself, Rosco. But they ain't in here and they won't be for hours. They was gonna meet Cooter, last I knew."

From his prone position on the porch, Luke mentally congratulated his uncle. Jesse needed to get rid of Rosco, and quickly. Luke was going to give him another five minutes to do it before he'd sneak off on his own after Bo. His cousin shouldn't have been left alone even this long.

"Enos, you go back to town and watch the garage. Jesse, now I'm gonna wait here."

"Okay, Rosco, if you want to. You got to wait outside though. I got errands to run. Unless you want to come with me? I could use and extra pair of hands to help me birth the widow Brown's calf…"

Paling slightly, Rosco began to back away.

"Never mind Jesse. I think I'll just… Gyu, I'll go look for your boys. I'm gonna find them, you know."

"Oh, I know that Rosco. They always turn up eventually."

Jesse stayed at the front door, watching, as the lawmen returned to their cruisers, Enos with the eager energy of youth, and Rosco with a stiff, swaggering gait that tried very hard to be menacing, but succeeded only in looking as though he'd been doing a little too much horseback riding of late.

As soon as they were out of sight, Jesse headed back across the house, calling, "Let's go Luke," even before he'd reached the back porch. Luke was already up and trotting towards the pickup when his uncle closed the back door to the house.

* * *

Bo knew he was waiting for Luke, though he couldn't remember why. The blonde realized he wasn't feeling very well, but wasn't sure whether that had anything to do with why he was waiting for his older cousin. It seemed like it had been too long a wait, though. 

Another thing he couldn't remember was whether it was him or Luke that was in trouble. At least one of them had to be, though that was sort of a given. Generally, if he and Luke weren't together it was because one was in trouble and the other was trying to get him out.

Bo did his best to take some inventory of his own condition. His head hurt, no doubt about that, and his leg did as well. He was somewhat dizzy and nauseous, but as far as he could tell, there was nothing life-threatening about his injuries. It must be his cousin that was in trouble, then. And he'd been laying here in a daze instead of helping Luke.

Ignoring the fact that someone had apparently replaced his head with a bass drum and his stomach with a washing machine, Bo pulled himself to a seated position, and with his last ounce of strength, began to search for his missing cousin.


	3. More Than One Kind of Traffic

_Thanks to all who read the first two chapters of this, and double thanks to those who've reviewed._

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the good looking ones, nor even the funny ones. Nope, I only seem to be able to create the plain vanilla variety with surly dispositions - so you'll recognize them as mine when they go by._

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Chapter 3 – There's More than One Kind of Traffic

"Rosco!"

Even through the static of his police band/citizen's band radio, the sheriff could hear that the portly man at the other end was talking with his mouth full again. For the briefest of moments, Rosco was disgusted, but he stomped that feeling down almost before it could be known to him.

"This is Sheriff Rosco Coltrane."

"Rosco, you get over here to the Boar's Nest right now."

"Well, you see Boss, I'm up here on Sutter's Pass investigatin' a horrendous case of vandalism."

"I don't care what you're doin', you get in here now or you'll be flippin' burgers at Miss Ruby's Café."

"…Miss Ruby's Café," Rosco finished in unison with his boss. He keyed the mic on his CB unit and answered, "10-4 Boss, I'm on my way." Leaving behind the remnants of his custom-made, electronic, speed trap sign, which could go from displaying a speed limit of 55 to 35 with the push of a button, Rosco got into his car and started the engine. During the moonlit hours, the sheriff's sign was habitually stashed in some shrubs by the side of the road. This morning he'd come to the spot to find this prized tool of his trade smashed to small pieces. All day, Rosco had wanted to investigate this particular crime, but between his run-in with the Duke boys, Boss's nonstop bellowing and his little discussion with and eventual escape from Jesse Duke, he'd been kept away from the scene for hours at a time. Now that he'd finally gotten back here, his cranky boss was pulling him away once again.

"Rosco." The sheriff had only gotten halfway to the Boar's Nest when his CB rattled with the commissioner's voice once again. "Where are you?"

"Gij, I'm comin' Boss."

"Well, stop lollygaggin' an' get here already!"

Something about the tone of Hogg's voice caught his sheriff's ear, so instead of bursting into a series of nonsense syllables as was his norm, Rosco put his foot down on the accelerator.

"I'm comin' Boss," he said as he raced over dirt roads, pulling out all the stops to get to his little, fat buddy as quickly as possible. That had sounded like a distress call to the Hazzard County sheriff.

* * *

"Bo!" Luke cried out, seeing that his cousin had somehow moved from the "bed" of hay that he'd left the blonde resting on. The boy was now sprawled out in the doorway to the shed, unconscious and whiter than Jesse's pickup after a good scrub-down. 

Jesse joined Luke on his knees, and together they assessed the younger boy's condition. The patriarch was quickly confident of two things: Bo needed a hospital, and Luke wasn't going to like what his uncle was about to say.

"Help me get him in the truck, Luke. I'm taking him to Tri-County. And once we get him in the pickup, I need you to run back home."

"I'm going with Bo to the hospital," Luke said in a confused but determined voice.

"Not this time, Luke. Now, them charges Rosco has got against you boys is serious. They could land you in federal prison. Bo here has to go to the hospital and there ain't two ways about that. An' once he's there, Rosco's gonna be able to track him down. But he ain't gonna be able to find you, not unless you go with me an' make yourself a target."

"But Jesse…"

"Luke, we ain't got time to fight about this. Look at your cousin; he needs a doctor now." Luke did as he was told and winced in sympathetic pain. Together he and Jesse lifted the blonde and carried him towards the pickup. In contrast to the gentle way he held Bo, Jesse's tone with Luke was firm.

"You go back to the farm and lay low. You and I both know that Bo's strong and healthy, and he's gonna be in good hands. Ain't nothin' you can do for him at the hospital anyways. You keep out of sight and wait at the farm until I can get Cooter or Daisy to you. I don't want you runnin' around in the General attractin' Rosco's attention, got it?" These last words were said as uncle and nephew settled the family's youngest into the passenger side of the pickup.

"Yes, sir," Luke said.

His brunette nephew's tone and posture made Jesse stop for one last rebuke.

"You do what I tell you, boy." With that, Luke's sole remaining parental figure got into the truck and drove away, leaving behind a suddenly powerless and very frustrated young man.

* * *

Sheriff Coltrane hustled through the bar, hardly noticing Daisy Duke, who greeted him as he passed. When he got near the entry to Boss Hogg's office, Rosco almost subconsciously melted into himself. He was hardly aware that he did this anymore, though he had once habitually stood at his full six foot height. Now, more than half the time, his cringing posture was no more than five-foot-nine. 

Once he passed through the door, however, he resumed his sheriff's swagger. There was a stranger in the room with Boss, and he didn't seem overly well disposed towards the commissioner. Rosco was going to do his best to protect his little fat buddy, so long as he could do so without getting hurt himself.

"Boss? You wanted to see me?" Rosco asked, looking for some sign of what the man in white wanted him to do.

"Rosco, this here's Investigator Willet from the State Police Barracks. He needs to talk to you about some kind of illegal drug trafficking through Hazzard County, which I already told him you don't know nothing about."

"Gyu," the sheriff said, his eyes flicking from one man to the other. His portly boss was completely dwarfed by the person to his left, a man that stood at least a foot taller than Hogg. Not only was the investigator long, but he was broad as well, and despite the neat business suit he wore, the crew cut hair on his head and the hardness of his features suggested he'd be more at home in an alley, beating the tar out of an uncooperative suspect.

"Uh," Rosco continued to stall for time. Boss had made it clear that the sheriff was not to admit to any knowledge of drug trafficking through Hazzard. What confused him was that he genuinely didn't know of any such problem in the county. What was Boss up to?

Deciding it didn't matter, Rosco resumed his confident pose.

"Of course there ain't no drug trafficking through Hazzard. If there was, we'd have cuffed them and stuffed them by now, khee! So you can just go away now, shoo."

For the first time since the Hazzard County lawman had entered the room, Willet spoke. While not overly loud, his voice commanded respect all the same, through its depth and seriousness. Rosco immediately regretted having suggested that the man leave, seeing as he hadn't exactly taken it well.

"I'll go when my investigation is complete, which it is currently not. Nor will it be, until I track down the source of the illegal substances that have been passing through this county."

"Yes, uh, yes sir." Rosco looked to his brother-in-law, whose face was twisted into a sort of scowl, even as his eyes popped in nervousness.

"I anticipate that I will get complete cooperation from both the Sheriff's Department and the Commissioner's Office," Willet said, staring each man down in turn.

"Gyu…"

"Of course you will, of course you will," Hogg assured him as he headed towards the door, opening it to usher out his guest.

Willet was still not inclined to leave, but he certainly wasn't gathering any new information here in this stuffy office full of cigar smoke and irritating public servants. He'd be back here before all of this was through, he was sure. Neither of these supposed law enforcing men seemed exactly straight to him, but there was clearly nothing more for him to do here right now.

"I'll be seeing you gentlemen," the investigator warned in his most serious tone before leaving the office, closing the door behind him and crossing through the road house. So angered was he by the commissioner's attitude that he nearly missed the "bye now" that the barmaid called to him. Looking up, Willet was greeted by the most amazing smile he had ever seen. He had no choice but to smile back, a gesture that somehow removed all the meanness from his face and turned him into a handsome man.

Back in the office, Rosco was looking at his brother-in-law and giggling.

"Them State Mounties, they're just barkin' up the wrong tree, khee! There ain't no drugs in Hazzard."

"Yes, there are!" the man in white snapped.

"Yes, there are," the suddenly serious sheriff asserted. "Boss, gyu, what drug trafficking is there in Hazzard?"

"You pea-brain. You already broke up the ring by catchin' them Duke boys this mornin'."

"Oh, I did. That's right, I did!" Rosco's excitement nearly knocked the bon-bon out of the fat man's hand. His joy was short-lived though, and followed by intense confusion. "Boss, if it was those Duke boys that was trafficking them drugs, why didn't you just tell that to Willet? I mean, he'd lock them up good, kyu, they'd never see the light of day again."

"Dat, Rosco. If I gave them Dukes boys to Willet, I'd also have to give him the evidence…"

"Well, of course you would, the evidence is what he'd need to lock those boys up, you know."

Boss shook his head in utter frustration. Was the sheriff actually getting dumber every day or was it just his imagination? It didn't matter. Either way the county commissioner was at his wit's end.

"Listen, Rosco, I'm gonna use small words and go slow so you'll be sure to understand. If I give the evidence to Willet, then I won't have it anymore."

"Uh-huh." The lawman's brow was wrinkled with his effort to understand. Boss continued quickly, not wanting to give the other man a chance to ask even one more annoying question.

"An' if I don't have it, I can't sell it, an' it leaves Hazzard without me gettin' a dime."

"Without you gettin'… oh. An' if you don't get a dime then I don't get my take. Uh, Boss? How much exactly is my take of a dime? Would it be a nickel, or maybe…"

"Dat! Rosco! It ain't even going to be a penny if you don't stop talkin' and let me call Big John Halloway."

"Gij! Halloway? He's mean, Boss, real scary. What're you callin' him for?"

"He's the only one who will buy this contraband you got off the Duke boys. He'll even get it identified for us. We don't rightly know what it is, yet."

"What do we care what it is? I mean, once Jim Halloway buys it, we don't care anyway, do we?"

"Yes, we do. Once we know what it is, we can find another buyer next time."

"Next time? How is there gonna be a next time?"

"Easy, you jackass. Since we ain't gonna have any evidence, you ain't gonna bust them Duke boys. An' the drugs will keep comin' in and you'll just keep on confiscatin' 'em. You'll just have to figure out who that quack hires next, 'cause he ain't gonna trust them Duke boys no more."

"Boss? Can I just ask you one thing?"

"Dat!"

"It's just one teeny, tiny thing, I promise." Rosco paused, and took the absence of response for consent. "You're always saying that moonshine is one thing, and drugs is another, and you don't want no drugs in Hazzard County. So how come you're gettin' involved like this?"

"Rosco!" The older man was at his wit's end. Subtlety was not in his sheriff's repertoire. "I ain't buyin' or sellin', not really. I'm just collectin' tax is all. An' the stuff ain't stayin' here in Hazzard for a minute longer than it has to."

* * *

The closer he got to the farm, the more Luke knew that he wouldn't be able to obey his uncle's command. Even without the patriarch there to chastise him, the guilt-laden boy's eyes were downcast. Not only had he let his cousin and best friend down, he was going to have to do the same to the man who had raised him. 

His first instinct was to go straight to the hospital to see Bo, regardless of Jesse's warnings, but he knew that if he got himself arrested he wouldn't be helping Bo through whatever was wrong with him; he'd be sitting in jail, even more helpless than he was right now. Luke's second idea was to go to Wooster and find out what, exactly, he and Bo had been transporting, and whether Rosco's bust even had merit. After all, if it was just some kind of penicillin equivalent, well, he and Bo would be off the hook and he could go right to the hospital and deal with the sheriff later.

Finally, by the time he reached the farm, Luke realized that as badly as he wanted to get to Bo, he had other responsibilities first. So despite the fact that it slowed him down on his desired quest, Luke quickly did as many chores as he reasonably could, knowing that without him and Bo, Jesse and Daisy would be hard pressed to get it all done. Next he left a note, so they wouldn't worry after him too much. And finally, he was ready to do exactly what his uncle had expressly asked him not to. Sliding into the General Lee, Luke started the powerful engine and roared out of the farmyard. He only hoped that he would be sufficiently successful in resolving this mess that the man he owed so very much to would find a way to forgive him.


	4. Alternate Uses for a Screwdriver

**Chapter 4 - Alternate Uses for a Screwdriver**

Daisy was still a little dazed by the man who had just left the Boar's Nest after some kind of a closed door discussion with Boss and Rosco. He was really cute, in his own way. All tough on the outside, but with such a charming smile, that she couldn't help but think he'd be really sweet inside, if only she could get to know him.

The ringing of the payphone snapped her back to reality.

"Boar's Nest, Daisy Duke speakin'."

"Daisy, it's me. I don't want you to go worryin' too much, but I'm at Tri-County General with Bo. He's got a head injury, but the doc thinks he'll be okay."

"I'll be right there, Uncle Jesse."

"No, girl, you won't. I need you to do something else."

"But if Bo is hurt…"

"Now Daisy, Bo ain't the only one in trouble. I need you to take care of Luke."

"You mean Luke's not with you?" Daisy could not remember a time when one of the boys had been hurt and the other hadn't been right there by his side, doing everything in his power to help. Luke must be injured, too.

"No, I made him stay behind. Rosco's got some serious charges layin' against them boys this time, an' I couldn't let him come along and take a chance on him gettin' arrested. I need you to go home and tell him that Bo's gonna be all right, you hear?"

"Why can't we just call him? Then I could come there…"

"Sweetheart," Jesse interrupted as gently as his worry would allow, "I need you to go to him. He's gonna want to come here, you know that. I need you to talk to him, remind him that him gettin' caught won't do Bo no good. You understand?"

"Yes, sir," Daisy reluctantly agreed. She wanted to go to the cousin that was hurt, not the one that was worried. But she would do as her uncle asked.

Jesse understood Daisy's hesitation. He'd raised the kids in his care to have a fierce loyalty to one another. It hadn't been easy, considering that they'd come to him from three different families, each heartbroken over their losses. Not one of them had an easy childhood, each having buried their own parents before they'd even seen the inside of a school. For the most part, though, instead of letting it eat at them, they'd found the love of family in each other, and for that he was grateful. Not only had it kept them happier than they would otherwise have been, it had made them a team. Back when they were running 'shine, that teamwork had been necessary to keep ahead of the law. And now that they were out of the business, they still had to rely on one another completely. Now that Rosco Coltrane had sold his soul to one J. D. Hogg, Duke hunting season was a twelve month affair.

"Thank you, Daisy-girl. An' do it on your break, you hear me? You can't go leavin' work early for this or J. D. and Rosco'll know something's up. When you get there, you make sure that Luke stays put and lays low, you hear me?"

"Yes, sir."

Once he'd hung up the payphone, Jesse hurried back to his youngest. Though he hadn't lied to his niece, the older man hadn't told her everything. The doctor did think that Bo would be all right – once he regained consciousness, and he still hadn't.

* * *

That dumb sheriff had broken another one of his good pens, fidgeting the way he did. And, as he was wont to do, his brother-in-law had just left the poor, abused writing implement right in the middle of the commissioner's oversized desk. He was not even smart enough to hide the evidence. If Hogg didn't need a dirty lawman, he would have tossed Rosco out on his ear long ago, never mind the wrath of Lulu. His wife could run him over like a freight train and it would still be less painful than dealing with her idiot younger brother. 

But if Rosco was gone, there'd be a newly elected sheriff, and whoever it was wouldn't be as easy to use as Rosco. And, worst case scenario, it would wind up being that ridiculously honest deputy, Enos, and Hogg would have to shut down all operations. Strate might not be smart, but he was like a squirrel at the birdfeeder – he wouldn't give up until he either had the seed or it was spread all over the ground. Either way, if Enos got a promotion, the commissioner would be on the losing end.

His sheriff wasn't the only thing annoying J. D. Hogg. He'd been trying to reach Jim Halloway for a couple of hours now. Whatever it was that the Duke boys had been hauling, it wasn't earning him any interest sitting in the county courthouse. And if it stayed there too long, Inspector Willet would find it. While he waited for Halloway to return to the only place Boss knew how to reach him, the fat man decided that he'd have to risk moving the goods. Or better yet, he'd make Rosco do it.

"Rosco!"

"Gijit!" The sheriff had no sooner gotten back to his demolished speed limit sign than his CB squawked again. One of these days he was going to shoot that annoying piece of electronics. Knowing the tightwad county commissioner, the stupid thing would never be replaced. And while it meant he wouldn't be able to menace Enos through the machine, at least it would put an end to this kind of frustrating interruption.

"This is Rosco Coltrane."

"Sheriff, I've got a very important job for you. You come see me."

"10-4," Rosco answered, then removed his thumb from the send button before muttering, "Ya fat meadowmuffin. One of these days you're gonna call and I'm not gonna come, you'll see." The words were barely out of his mouth when the sheriff hopped into his car and headed to town.

* * *

Luke wanted immediate resolution; every delay was wearing on his patience. After taking care of as much as he could by way of farm chores, and going the longer route of hidden off-road detours, he'd finally gotten to the building that served as Dr. Wooster's home and clinic, to find the vet was gone. Logically, Luke knew that the doctor made a lot of house calls, and that he could be anywhere. He wanted to go farm to farm looking for him, but realized the futility. 

He sat on the porch steps in front of the office and tried to come up with an alternate plan. It might be hours before the vet came back, and Luke didn't want to wait that long. He needed answers before he could clear himself and his cousin, and unless he could put an end to being on the lam, he would be separated from Bo for a long time indeed. Narcotics charges would put his younger cousin behind bars for a good many years.

Having a lot of time to sit still had never been a good situation for Luke Duke. He was better at it than Bo, but not much, for even his more disciplined mind would begin to wander, given enough time. Unbidden, a childhood memory came to Jesse's eldest charge.

_Five-year-old Bo had never heard the word "orphan" before, much less applied to himself. Luke had known for a long time that that's what he and Bo were, and now Daisy was too, though he'd never said the word to his little cousin. But on that particular day, when the tow-headed boy had met Luke during school lunch hour, there was no bounce in his step and no gleam in his eye at the prospect of an hour of freedom before the whole school would return to classes. _

"_Bo?" Luke prompted. He knew he didn't have to say even that much. The boy would come out with it as soon as he knew his cousin was listening._

"_What's an orphan, Lukas?"_

_The older boy sighed. Bo was already upset, that much was apparent by the way he'd used Luke's full name. There was no point in sugar coating it anyway. The younger boy did not like to be patronized, and if he thought someone was holding something back from him, his temper would flare._

"_Well, it's someone whose parents died – like ours did." Luke preferred not to talk about the subject, but seeing his normally cheerful cousin so unhappy and asking for answers, he made the exception. He'd talk about it as long as Bo wanted to. _

"_Oh, so we _are_ orphans then."_

"_Yeah…we are." Luke was old enough, back when it happened, to have understood the adults talking about the poor little boys who would never know the love of a mother or father, not since their parents had been killed in that horrible accident. Forgetting that the small, dark haired boy was even there, his extended family had talked about the details of the crash: how a truck had suddenly emerged over the crest of the mountain, on the wrong side of the road. Bo's father had swerved to avoid the larger vehicle, but there was no chance. The car clipped the 18-wheeler, and both automobiles rolled into the ditch. The truck had instantly exploded, killing everyone. _

_That story had made Luke angry when he was not yet five, and eavesdropping on the discussion as to who would care for the poor orphaned boys. Being reminded of that now, and seeing a mirror of his childhood sadness in his cousin's darker eyes, Luke became livid. _

"_Who told you that you was an orphan, Bo?"_

_The silent child pointed across the schoolyard at one of the larger boys in the school, then immediately regretted having done so, as Luke took off at high speed and tackled Ernie Ledbetter. The fight was quick and dirty. The noise of the two boys screaming at one another, along with the calls of the other kids, brought teachers and administrators on the run. Before he knew what had happened, Bo saw his older cousin being dragged towards the building by the principal. Ernie was also led away by one of the brawnier teachers._

_Bo and Luke didn't see each other again until that night. The older boy was silent, not talking to anyone. He was also not sitting, an indication that Uncle Jesse had whipped him good. While the family ate and talked at the kitchen table, Luke stood at the mantel and poked at his food in silence. His eyes still smoldered. The nine-year old was angry at the world._

Coming out of his memories, Luke almost laughed at his childhood self. He'd had such a temper then, feeling like he'd been cheated out of his true family and his rightful home. Sometimes he'd given his uncle more than his share of grief, without even really knowing why he did it.

It wasn't until his service in the Marines, years later and far away from the farm, that he'd finally exhausted his anger in the effort simply to keep himself alive. One desperately lonely and terribly frightening night, he'd finally realized just how lucky he was to have the adoptive family that he did. For as miserable as he'd tried to make himself as a child, they'd always been there to make him feel loved, smart, and important. And the one who'd done it the best was Bo.

There was no way in hell his little cousin was going to jail. Not if Luke could stop it from happening.

* * *

Hotwiring cars was almost second nature to the Duke boys. Luke found himself suddenly wondering why he and Bo had never perfected the art of picking locks, but really, there had never been a need. From time to time they'd had to start a car without a key, but almost nothing in Hazzard was ever locked up. No one owned anything worth keeping safe, and if even they did, they probably would have shared willingly anyway. The exception, of course, was J. D. Hogg, but the boys had not really had cause to break into anything of his, preferring instead to trick the commissioner into unlocking his own doors, vaults and safes. This was different, though. Luke's need was too urgent to wait for the vet to turn up on his own and he wasn't patient enough to trick anyone. All of his brain power was focused on getting the information that he assumed would be in Dr. Wooster's office; the key to making sure Bo didn't wind up behind bars. 

The frustrated young man was getting close to just forcing his way into the office, but knowing that he didn't plan to stay around and fix the door once he'd broken it kept him from doing so. He had already done so many things that would disappoint his uncle; he would at least try to be responsible in his execution of the forbidden activities. Breaking and entering was certainly something he could expect to hear about later, but if he did any damage in the process, he might as well move in with the good doctor, considering the wrath that would await him at home.

And despite the fact that he was deliberately disobeying the order to stay at the farm, Luke was doing his best to follow the more important instruction, which was laying low. Once he'd decided to pick the lock, he'd taken the General a short distance away and stashed him in a culvert between two rows of bushes. Only someone with a very keen eye would spot him, and there was nothing, eyes or otherwise, that was keen about old Rosco. Luke ought to be safe. It was Bo that was in danger.

Finally, when the screwdriver he'd brought from the General's trunk to jimmy the door managed to catch the third tumbler (and after a good many cuts and nicks to his hands), Luke found himself inside the vet's office. Ignoring the majority of the room around him for now, the Duke boy slipped the screwdriver into his back pocket, locked the door behind him, and headed for anything that looked like paperwork. Looking through a row of filing cabinets, he found surprisingly little. There didn't seem to be and real records of the animals Wooster had treated, aside from the copies of paid bills.

Deciding that now was not the time to worry about the doctor's note keeping practices, the stealthy Marine determined that desk drawers were the most likely locations for medical supply shipment records, and turned around to head that way. As he did, his sharp, blue eyes finally took in the space around him. This was not your average veterinarian's office. Luke's experience with the profession was limited, admittedly, but between common sense and the few times he'd been in such a place before, he was quite certain that some of the objects in this room did not belong here, and other things that should have been here weren't.

A second too late, the older cousin realized that Bo really was in danger, but not quite as much trouble as Luke was.


	5. I Ain't Exactly a Maid

_Merry Christmas, everyone! No, this chapter does not have a Christmas theme in it anywhere, so I've no good reason for posting it today. Well, other than the fact that it is Christmas and here I sit with a stomach bug, and under a tornado watch to boot (and, note to HazzardHusker - theme parks aside, Florida's a great place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live here), so what better way to distract myself than this!_

_Disclaimer: They ain't mine (and, dang it, Santa didn't leave them under my tree) unless they're bad guys. Even then, if they wear white of happen to be a sheriff - they ain't mine._

* * *

**Chapter 5 – I Ain't Exactly a Maid**

Daisy could tell something was amiss before she even got out of her car. The front door to the old farmhouse was ajar, and it looked to be hanging off kilter. There was no sign of the General, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. If, as Daisy suspected, Rosco had come with a back search warrant and forced his way into the house, Luke would have hidden the car as well as himself until the danger passed. There was no sign of any Hazzard law enforcement now, so Daisy got out of the car and began calling to her older cousin.

The Boar's Nest had been somewhat busy, so her break was late in coming. She hadn't been able to keep track of Rosco or Enos, and didn't have any idea whether they'd figured out yet where Bo was. Boss had stayed in his office all day, behind closed doors. Daisy had wanted nothing more than to escape the building ever since hearing from her uncle, but she'd been given strict orders to wait until the right time, and she wouldn't go against Jesse's wishes.

But now that the young woman had made her way to the porch of the old house, she wished she'd come sooner, no matter what her uncle had said. The inside of her house had been torn apart, and there was no sign of Luke. Still shouting his name, Daisy checked through the shambles of a house, and then raced to the barn. When she could find no sign of her darker cousin in the area surrounding the house, the young woman jumped into her car and did a tour of the entire Duke property, which was expansive and included several small storage sheds and older structures that had once been barns. Remembering childhood games of hide-and-seek, Daisy went to all of Luke's favorite spots, and found no trace of him. Finally, the young woman had to admit to herself that it was time to go back to the house and try to figure out who would have torn through the Duke's home in that way. As best she could figure, it seemed like Luke had been kidnapped, and had put up an awful fight on his way out. And unless she could begin to piece together who had done it, they'd never find Luke, not with Bo laid up and Jesse busy tending to him.

* * *

Wooster wished he'd never gotten involved with the Duke boys. Being new to the area, he hadn't known just how much trouble that family could be. But now his boss was making clear the foolishness of the doctor's ways. In fact, he was making the point that unless Wooster could figure out what those boys had done with his merchandise, the veterinarian would find himself in a great deal of pain. And even worse, this dressing down was taking place right in front of the two brawny men that his boss had brought with him on this little treasure hunt. 

"They just seemed like country bumpkins," the doctor defended himself.

"Well, they are," his boss agreed, "but they somehow manage to get in the way of so many good plans. Seems to me you'd better be thinking about how to find them and their cargo, though, instead of telling me what you thought they were or weren't capable of."

Wooster hid his fear in the act of unlocking the door to his office. The convenience of working from the same building in which he lived had seemed like such a good idea a few months back, but now he realized a major flaw. He had no place to hide, now that things had gone awry. He was in a small town that he didn't really know yet, and this old wood framed building wouldn't protect him from the men with whom he'd become involved. He wasn't exactly a tough guy, in fact he was more pathetic than anything, when he thought about it.

His original goal in moving to Hazzard had been to straighten out, begin a new, "clean" business. Back when he'd started college, he'd never imagined he'd be anything other than a good and honorable veterinarian. But the pills he'd begun taking to help him cope with the workload of his second year of grad school were expensive, and the only way to afford them was to sell other narcotics. Before he knew it he was hooked on both the speed he was taking and the money he was making. And the habits had followed him into his business.

After years of barely keeping himself functioning, the doctor had entered rehab, and ultimately relocated to a tiny Appalachian town where he felt he could start over. This time, he promised himself, nothing would get out of control, and he'd just be a small-town veterinarian. Hazzard had been so welcoming that for the first couple of months he was sure things would work out this time. But the doctor was lonely, and in that state found it hard to fight the cravings he felt for chemical relief. Eventually he'd gone to Atlanta for a fix, and before he knew it, he'd gotten hooked up with the man who was standing behind him now, waiting for him to unlock the door.

Either Wooster was very nervous or he was going to need to get a new lock for this door. Somehow it had become very stiff and difficult to turn. Finally he managed to get it open and all four men stepped inside.

* * *

No sooner had Luke noticed the large number of measuring and weighing instruments – scales much too small to weigh even the youngest kittens and pups – than he heard the cars pulling in and voices right outside. Whatever these tools were being used for couldn't be something good, of that he was positive. And he was pretty sure that Rosco had grounds to put both him and Bo away for a long time. But there was no time to think too hard about it, since the voices were coming closer. Frantically, Luke sought a place to hide, knowing that his original plan of talking to the doctor definitely wouldn't help him or his cousin now. 

The older Duke boy really hoped that the doctor's guests were there on a professional basis, not personal, as the only place he could find to get out of sight on such quick notice was the slightly recessed passageway from the office to the house. Pressing himself flat into the cramped space, he held his breath as the door he'd jimmied just moments before opened once again.

"From this note he left, it doesn't sound like they're reselling the stuff."

Luke carefully peered around the corner of his little alcove. Wooster, whose voice he had recognized, seemed to be talking to three other men, one of whom looked slightly familiar to Luke, but was certainly no one he actually knew; maybe just someone he'd seen around before. Glancing at Wooster's hand, Luke bit back a gasp. He recognized the thing the doctor was holding.

"It just says 'I'm sorry, but I had to clear our names. Love you and I'll be in touch.' It doesn't say anything about money, or meeting anyone, or selling anything," the doctor reasoned, trying to keep the larger man, for whom he worked, calm.

"Well, you'd better start thinking about where they might be, or more importantly, where that very expensive shipment is, because there's more than one way to pay for a mistake like this. Those boys are trouble, and unless you can get control over them, you're going to have very serious regrets about the day you hired them. And so will they."

"Right," Wooster answered, quietly, his voice squeaking slightly.

"I'm leaving Frank here to help you… or to break your knees if you don't start figuring this out and quick. Emmett and I will be out collecting from our other… clients. We've wasted a lot of time here. Don't make us waste any more."

Wooster barely nodded in agreement. This was not the way he wanted to live his life, but he didn't know how to get out of this hole that he'd dug himself into time and again.

Finally, the two men walked out the door, leaving Wooster to impress Frank with his diligence. The doctor didn't know how he was going to do that, having exhausted all of his ideas by leading the way to the Duke farm, and tearing it apart looking for clues to the location of the narcotics. Since that had failed, he was out of plans.

Luke waited as he heard the fading sound of a car engine, thinking that now he might have half a chance of fighting his way out of here. There was no way he could have taken the four men, but he thought he could probably get past these two, considering one was looking awfully scared right now. He'd just have to wait for the other one to get distracted.

* * *

Jesse was even more worried than he had been a few hours ago. A concussion was one thing; he'd seen both boys through those. Sometimes it seemed to the old man that one or the other of those boys was always hitting his head on something, usually someone else's fist. But today was different. Bo had been out too long. If he didn't come to soon, they'd have to be worried about more serious swelling of the brain, and might even have to do surgery to relieve the pressure. Doc Petticord had just pulled Jesse out into the hallway to discuss options with him. The old man was starting to regret keeping Luke home. The older boy ought to be here for this. 

Jesse's train of thought was interrupted as he re-entered Bo's room, just in time to see the blonde's eyes moving beneath the lids. Before he could even encourage the boy to wake up, deep blue eyes flew open, and a single word came from the boy's mouth.

"Luke!"

"Easy, boy, I'm here, your Uncle Jesse is right here," the white haired man soothed, laying a hand on Bo's shoulder.

"Jesse? Where's Luke?"

The older man swallowed. He knew that his youngest didn't mean to hurt his feelings, but sometimes it seemed those boys were closer to each other than either was to him anymore. It was occasionally painful to realize that they'd grown up so much that they didn't really seem to need him.

"Luke's at the farm."

Bo tried to sit up, but Jesse put a hand to his chest, preventing it.

"Slow down, Bo. You ain't ready to be moving around just yet."

"Luke's at the farm… then where am I? And is Luke all right?"

"Luke's just fine son; you're the one that got hurt. You're in Tri-County."

It wasn't that Bo didn't trust his uncle. It was just that he'd been so sure that Luke was the one in trouble.

"If Luke's okay, why ain't he here?"

Sighing, Jesse told his youngest why he'd made Luke stay behind. Some of what he was told was news to Bo, but most of it he remembered. He was still not wholly convinced that Luke was all right, but he knew his uncle wouldn't lie to him. So he'd just have to ignore that feeling in his gut.

* * *

"This is Daisy Duke, calling Sheriff Coltrane, you got your ears on?" 

"Ijit!" Of all the people to be calling while he was transporting questionably confiscated illegal narcotics. A Duke. Rosco was tempted not to answer her, but then his deputy got in the middle.

"Sheriff, Daisy Duke's callin' you. You got your ears on?"

"Of course I got my ears on, you dipstick!" That boy needed to be reminded who ran things around here. "I'm just busy is all. Too busy for the likes of you, Daisy Duke!"

"Rosco!" The young woman snapped.

"Gij! Oh all right, what is it now?"

"The farm – I came home for lunch, and the farm – is a mess."

"Khee, well I ain't exactly a maid, you know."

"Rosco!" the young woman yelled again. "I mean someone's been in here, and torn the house apart. An' L… no one's here."

"Well, I ain't got time for that piddly stuff right now Daisy. I'm workin' on a very important case!"

"Rosco!" This time there were tears in Daisy's voice. As much as he knew he couldn't get involved in whatever was going on at the Duke farm right now, Rosco didn't like the idea of Daisy in tears, either.

"Enos, you get over to the Duke Farm and see… gyu, just see what you can do."

"10-4, sir, I'm arriving on the scene now." Apparently his young deputy hadn't waited for his orders; he'd taken it upon himself to head that way as soon as he'd heard Daisy's transmissions. Well, the sheriff would have to punish the youngster later. For now, he had a mission to complete.

"This is Crazy Cooter coming at ya, Bo Peep. I'm over here on Old Mill road pullin' ol' Hobie's car out of a ditch. But he's six sheets to the wind so he won't mind if I leave it here for now. I'm on my way to help you too, Daisy."

"10-4." This was the last transmission Rosco heard before snapping off his CB. All that chatter was driving him crazy, and he needed to concentrate for now. It should be a simple matter to move vials from one place to another, but for the aging sheriff, it took all his concentration. And if there was anything that could distract him, it was thoughts of those Dukes.


	6. Hard Headed Duke Boys

_Hi all - I hope your holidays were terrific. Odds are, I won't get a chance to post again until after the New Year, so have a great time and be careful out there._

_Disclaimer: The ones you can see on TV - those are the ones I don't own. The others, unfortunately, I have to claim. But none of them earn me a dime._

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Hard Headed Duke Boys**

When Cooter arrived at the farm, he found Daisy and Enos standing near the barn, staring intently at the ground. He'd seen them in this position before, each looking at their own feet, but mostly they'd done that when they were about five years younger. Back then, the beautiful Duke girl had been just emerging from her adolescent shell, was more awkward, and somewhat shy. She and Enos had sort of danced around dating back then, but it had never happened, largely because neither seemed capable of lifting their eyes from the ground below. Since that time, there'd been little sign of the two getting together. Enos was still crazy about Daisy, anyone could see that, but she'd moved on and most of the time her dark eyes were on another man; any other man, it sometimes seemed.

Cooter snapped himself back to the here-and-now. This was not a shy exchange between two would-be lovers. They were up to something over there, and unless he got out of his tow truck, he'd never know what.

"Hey Enos, Daisy," he greeted, walking up to slip an arm around the woman's waist. He didn't know how much trouble her cousins were in now, but he was sure that the current condition of the farmhouse had something to do with them, even if it was indirectly. And he knew that if they were in trouble, Daisy would need some emotional support. As much as those boys had been running their uncle ragged since ever since they were teenagers, they'd been making their female cousin worry about them even more. Cooter had sort of made a silent vow to do his best to keep an eye on those two, so that their family wouldn't have to work quite so hard at keeping track of them. The problem was, it didn't matter how many people were looking out for Daisy's cousins – they'd find trouble in their own barn, just milking a cow.

"Hey, Cooter," both lawman and waitress answered, without taking their eyes off the dirt beneath them. Enos was moving slightly, and by following the deputy's eyes as well as his progress, Cooter was able to make out some tire tracks in the dust.

"Nope," he said, and finally two pairs of eyes looked up at him.

"Nope what?" Enos asked, the wrinkles of confusion on his forehead nearly lifting the deputy's hat right off his head. The young lawman was lousy at poker, too. His emotions were always written all over his face, in big red letters.

"Nope, those tracks don't belong to any of the cars on the farm, nor your car either, Enos."

"Oh right, thanks Cooter. That's just what I was tryin' to decide. All right, let's follow 'em, then." Enos was eager to resolve Daisy's fears, but Cooter dumped cold water on his plans.

"Well, buddyroe, you can follow 'em right to the end of the driveway, but when you get to the blacktop out there, they're gonna disappear."

Enos was crestfallen. "Oh, right." The deputy could be a good lawman, he knew it. But somehow, whenever he was in Daisy's presence he managed to make a fool out of himself every time.

"It's okay, sugar." Daisy tried to be kind, but her own worry was apparent.

"What's the inside of the house look like?" Cooter asked, partly to get the answer, but also in the hopes that they'd all go inside for a little while and sit down. Both of his friends looked like they could use a few minutes to clear their heads.

"Come on, I'll show you." Daisy led the way.

After about five minutes of looking through the damage at the farmhouse, then ten minutes of discussion in the kitchen, the three friends agreed on a few things. First, they didn't think the condition of the house was due to a fight. Nothing was actually broken, and most of what had been thrown about had come from closets and desk drawers. Next, wherever Luke was, he'd probably gone on his own, since the General was missing, and if Luke had been kidnapped, the orange stock car would likely still be stashed in the barn. Finally, they determined that they'd never find Luke nor figure out what had happened unless they got moving.

A plan was made: Enos would head to town, looking for anything amiss that might point to who had been in the Dukes' home or for any sign of where Luke might be. Daisy's task was to make a quick trip to the medical center and update her uncle. Cooter would check some of the remote areas where Luke might be hiding, such as fishing holes and the old Indian caves. Then Daisy and the mechanic would meet up in an hour to go check the Dukes' old still sites; Cooter didn't know where they were to check them out on his own.

The three headed off for the north, south and east, leaving the west for later, assuming they could scrounge up some more help.

* * *

Luke didn't get a chance to plan his attack. 

Frank, the designated knee-cap breaker, was getting restless. The veterinarian was way too whiny and inactive for his tastes. He wished he'd been able to leave with the boss and that Emmett had been assigned to stay behind instead. The problem here was that Frank was great at providing muscle, but decision making wasn't his long suit. He'd been told to hurt Wooster if he had to, but at what point? How much longer should he let the doctor try to think of a plan before hitting him? Should he belt the man for complaining? He was practically aching to hurt this guy, but he didn't know whether now was the right time.

As the thug grew more anxious, he began to move around the office, picking up an object just to put it down, fumbling in his pockets for cigarettes he didn't have, and generally making wider arcs around the room. And suddenly a bit of blue caught his eye.

When Frank stopped cold, Luke knew that the time to think had come to an end and that it was now time to act. Without a chance to catch the man off-guard, the veteran Marine was going to have to use some of those intentionally forgotten hand-to-hand combat skills he'd learned in a different lifetime, in a place where killing was acceptable. Moving quickly, before the thug could register what he'd seen, Luke plowed into the man, shoulder to breastbone. It was a move more suited to football than combat, but Luke was still hoping not to have to seriously hurt the man.

The stunned look on Frank's face didn't last long. This was a man ready for a fight, more ready than Luke had been. Mentally adjusting from using game techniques to those he'd learned in life and death situations, Luke stepped back to deliver a blow to the man's jaw. He needed to get him off balance one way or another. To Luke's surprise, his left hook did not scramble the man's brains.

He didn't know that there was nothing there to scramble. In fact, Frank looked downright cheerful, considering what Luke had just unleashed on him.

Not bothering with his fists, Frank just placed his hands on Luke's shoulders and drove him backwards into the wall. For all of the Marine's powerful muscles, he had to concede that his opponent was stronger. No time to worry about that, though. He'd have to use some serious maneuvers on this guy.

"Wha-?" The veterinarian finally reacted.

Yet another thing that Luke couldn't concern himself with. The agile young man slipped sideways away from the wall against which he'd been pinned, and started backing around the room, looking for something to push off from, to give his body leverage. As he circled, he did his best to duck the blows of the goon, sometimes successfully, but a few hits did find their mark. Fortunately, the former boxer knew how to keep his head, even when it was being pummeled by blows, so he maintained his balance and continued his search for the advantage he needed.

Just as Luke was coming around to the part of the office where he'd be able to use a lab table to launch himself at the kneecap-breaker, he was grabbed from behind. The doctor was not very strong, and Luke would have been free of him in a second, if he'd had that long. Instead, both he and the vet behind him were sent crashing into the lab table, when Frank let loose a blow directly to Luke's bread-basket. The Marine lost his breath instantly, a condition in which he could not summon enough power to swing a fist. Though Wooster had let go of Luke upon impact with the table, and had himself fallen to the floor with a whine, the brunette remained immobilized by the attempt to get any air into his lungs. Before he could succeed, the goon had picked up a chair and swung it feet first at Luke's head. While the Duke boy managed to duck the first arc, the second hit him squarely on the temple, and as everything went black. Luke went down with a mental agony that was even greater than the physical; he'd never made his way back to Bo.

* * *

Once she'd located her cousin and uncle in Tri-County Medical Center, Daisy tried to pull Jesse into the hallway where she could speak to him alone, but Bo was having none of that. 

"Y'all might as well talk here, because if you try to go outside, I'm gonna follow you, even if I have to pull this IV out of my arm to do it," the blonde threatened. Doc Petticord had only recently left after checking Bo over. The solution that was slowly dripping into his veins was just saline, re-hydrating him, since he'd spent most of the fluids in his body during the strenuous walk with Luke. Aside from that, Bo knew he had a sprained ankle and a concussion, which they hoped was mild, but wouldn't know for sure until they'd observed him for a day or so.

"Bo, you'll do no such thing!" Jesse boomed. But that rebuke was followed by, "Now Daisy-girl, you may as well say what you've got to say right here, before this fool hurts himself worse than he already has." Narrowed eyes kept Bo pinned meekly to his bed – for now.

"Well…" the young woman really didn't want to get Bo riled up, but seeing the serious, determined look on her younger cousin's face, she realized she didn't have a choice. "When I got to the farm, Luke wasn't there."

"Damn!" The word sprung off of Jesse's tongue and escaped through his teeth before he could stop it. Even that blasted mule, Maudine, had more sense his nephews. "I told that boy to stay put!"

"Uncle Jesse, calm down," Daisy said, even though she knew her next words would upset the man who'd raised them even more. "It was probably a good thing he wasn't there, because someone tore apart the house. Enos thinks they was lookin' for something, and he thinks Luke wasn't there or he'da stopped them… or got real bad hurt tryin'."

Bo sat up in alarm, ignoring the sudden thunderstorm in his head. "So where is Luke?" he demanded, not caring that he'd startled his female cousin, and that he was in a place where yelling was frowned upon.

"Bo!" his uncle warned. Right now Jesse was missing Luke's presence more than even his niece and nephew were. Somehow the oldest had a calming influence on the other two, and kept them from getting as worked up as they both were right now.

"Bo, Daisy, let's all take a deep breath now. Daisy, finish what you was saying and…" he looked at each in turn, "be sure to answer the questions that you know Bo is going to ask."

"Yes, sir," both of Jesse's kids said, trying to do as he'd asked.

Daisy laid out the facts as she knew them, then explained where Enos and Cooter were at that moment, as well as the fact that she had to leave to meet the mechanic in just a few minutes.

"All right," Jesse said as she finished, "I'll go back to the farm in case Luke shows up there. Could be he's hiding out from whoever tore up the place"

"And I'll…"

"You'll stay right there, boy!" the old man turned on his younger nephew, face set in anger. He knew that those boys of his were both former football players that didn't understand the concept of being taken out of the game. But with a sprained ankle and at least a mild concussion, this boy was benched.

"But Uncle Jesse, Luke…"

"We'll take care of Luke. Do you think he wants you gettin' hurt out there, lookin' for him? Why, he about wore hisself out makin' sure you got back home so's I could bring you here. You think he wants you goin' out there and hurtin' that ankle more? That head of yours is hard, no doubt about it, but do you think your cousin would be okay with you bangin' it up some more? Even a rock will break if you hit it enough times."

Before Bo could answer, a nurse that they'd barely met when she'd been in the room a few minutes ago to take his temperature and blood pressure, put her head inside the door.

"Everything all right in here?" She asked gently.

"Just fine ma'am," Jesse answered, the Duke charm oozing from his pores.

"Well then I want you all to stop yelling. There are sick people in here and they need their rest. Be considerate, or you'll be going home!"

The smile left Jesse's face in shock, and despite his misery, Bo had to smirk a little at the way this nurse had cowed his tough old uncle.

"Yes ma'am. We was just about to get goin' anyway, thank you, ma'am."


	7. Saying Goodbye, But Forever

_Author's note: I know there's been debate as to what Jesse's wife's name was, and there are those who believe in Martha and those who believe in Lavinia. Here's my two cents on that subject:_

_Having recently seen the DVD version of "Enos and Daisy's Wedding" (as opposed to the hacked up version in syndication), I noticed an early scene where Daisy holds the wedding dress up to herself, showing Jesse and the boys what she plans to wear. Jesse comments, "Your Aunt Lavinia was wearin' that when I married her." Towards the end of the show, when she's actually wearing the dress, he gets misty eyed and tells her she looks just like her Aunt Lavinia._

_I've also seen "Return of the Ridge Raiders" where Jesse tries to send the boys off to the safety of Aunt Lavinia's and Luke says his uncle hasn't even spoken to her in 20 years. _

_This leaves me with four possible conclusions:_

_1) Jesse married his sister (which gives a whole new twist to Daisy's line, "Never stopped anyone in this family before!")_

_2) He had a sister and a wife by the same name (it happens, though not usually with an unusual name like Lavinia)_

_3) He and his wife divorced some 20 years ago_

_4) The original writers on the show were inconsistent_

_The answer is most likely #4, though #1 makes for an interesting story all on its own._

_Anyway, I am of a mind to say that there are continuity flaws throughout the series. When it comes to Jesse's wife's name, pick your favorite. I chose Lavinia because I liked it._

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Dukes (not even Lavinia!) or the regulars from the series, and I am not making any money for the dumb things I put them through. The ones I do own are not real nice, but if you want to borrow them you can, just please ask first._**

* * *

**

Chapter 7 – Saying Goodbye, But Forever

"Now, Bo, we'll let you know the minute we find Luke," Daisy promised him, placing a comforting kiss on his cheek before heading out of the hospital room and back to her car.

"You gonna be okay here alone, son?" Jesse asked gently.

"Yes, sir, I'll be fine," Bo answered.

"Your cousin will be fine, too, you know. He's a strong boy."

"I know that, Uncle Jesse," Bo answered, and feeling Jesse's calloused hand on his shoulder, the youngest Duke reached up to give it a squeeze. "Take care," he added.

The older man nodded and left on the heels of his niece. Leave it to those boys of his to make an old man, who ought to be retired, spend his entire day running around the county. Jesse had been up before the dawn. By now there were only a couple of hours of daylight left, and he was rushing off on yet another wild goose chase. Lord knew, he'd probably still be on the move long after dark.

Once Jesse was gone, Bo laid back on the bed. He hadn't wanted to admit it, but his head more than hurt. The pain was so severe that he wasn't sure his stomach would stay stable, nor was he even seeing clearly, what with the flash bulbs randomly popping in front of his eyes.

Jesse was right, Luke was strong. Not for the first time in his life, Bo wished he was as strong as his cousin.

_

* * *

Family from both sides had converged upon the Duke farm. Years back there'd been more family to mourn those lost; now so many were gone that it seemed as though there were fewer still alive than had passed. All the same, it was a crowded house as the various generations of both Jesse's and Lavinia's kin arrived on the day of the funeral. _

_The service itself was still hours away, so the numerous children had been sent outside to play, and despite the somber atmosphere, most of them did. Bo was only 6, and even though he was very sad, he found himself quickly swept into a game of marbles. It was quite strange, playing with these children who were supposed to be his "cousins." He knew what cousins were – they lived with you, shared a house, a room and chores with you; they were there when you had birthdays, but also when you had a splinter in your finger and needed tweezers. They fought you over the last piece of pie, and fought the bully that picked on you at school. Luke and Daisy were his cousins. He didn't really know who these other kids were, but they weren't cousins, no matter what the adults tried to tell him._

_Bo looked up from the game he'd been playing with some of the other kids to see Luke sitting alone on the porch. He checked for Daisy and saw that she was showing some of the bigger kids the new baby goat. He knew that as long as she had a young animal to fawn over, Daisy would be all right. He wasn't used to Luke being so quiet though. He left the game to sit next to his older cousin._

"_Luke? Don'tcha wanna play?"_

"_Not right now, Bo."_

_Suddenly the marbles didn't interest the younger boy anymore, either. If Luke wasn't playing, Bo didn't really have a stake in the game. It was only fun to win if he could beat his older cousin._

"_Luke, why do we have to have a funeral for Aunt Lavinia?" The process of the day had been explained to Bo, and he understood that his aunt had suddenly taken sick and then died, but he didn't fully grasp what all of this meant. He knew that Luke would explain it to him, though. Sometimes his aunt and uncle would tell him things and he wouldn't really know what they meant, but Luke always found a way to make sure he understood what was going on._

_His older cousin looked like he was thinking, so Bo didn't interrupt. He'd get the information as soon as Luke figured out how to say it._

"_We had a funeral for our moms and dads, too. You was too little to remember it, but you was there. It's just a way of saying goodbye, but forever, not just like when you say see you later."_

"_But I don't want to say goodbye to Aunt Lavinia, not forever," Bo said, his chin starting to tremble a little._

"_I know, and neither do I, but we gotta." An arm came around Bo's shoulders, but it didn't help much._

"_If we didn't have a funeral, we wouldn't have to say goodbye, right? So let's just not have it. Then everything can go back to normal." For the first time in a while, Bo saw a little spark of humor in his cousin's eyes. At least there was one familiar thing in all the strange events of the last few days._

"_I wish you was right about that, little cousin. But no matter what we do, Aunt Lavinia's not coming back, just like our moms and dads never came back."_

"_Oh." Bo felt a storm approaching inside him, and even thought he could hear thunder in his head. He grabbed onto Luke with all his might and cried into his denim clad shoulder. The bigger boy just held onto him until the worst of it had passed. When Bo had cried himself out, Luke took him inside and put him to bed for awhile. As his cousin was sitting with him while he drifted off towards sleep, Bo wished he was more like Luke. The older boy was so strong, he hadn't cried at all._

_Awhile later, the whole group that had gathered headed off for the church. Bo was well rested from his nap, and when they got to the service, he was a little restless. He still didn't really understand everything that was happening, but he did know he couldn't make it stop, no matter how hard he tried. So instead he started playing with his corduroy pants, pretending that plush stripes were roadways and his fingers were a car. After a while of doing this, he was surprised when Luke took his hands. His older cousin didn't admonish him though, just held on until the blonde stopped fidgeting._

_Just as he always had been, Bo was relieved to get out of the church. It was bad enough to sit in school Monday through Friday. Being still on a Sunday just didn't seem fair. Though Bo didn't think this was Sunday. He hadn't been to school for a few days so he didn't remember._

_Everyone got into their own cars, but they all headed in the same direction, in a line. The little blonde boy didn't know why they did this instead of heading home to dinner like they normally would after church. He guessed that sit-still time was probably not entirely over, a thought that didn't thrill him. But by now he understood that he couldn't control any of what was happening today, so he just looked out the window. _

_At least Uncle Jesse's pickup was near the front of the line, so Bo could see what was going on. It looked like Sheriff Coltrane was going with them, too, in his squad car. He would rush up ahead to an intersection and stop traffic so that the entire funeral procession could pass. After all the cars were through the crossroads, the sheriff would zip from the back of the line to the front, passing on the right to get to the next intersection and hold up traffic again. _

_When they got to the main road, Bo followed Luke's eyes to see that those cars that were not part of the procession were pulling off the road, two wheels in the ditch alongside the blacktop, so they'd be well out of the way. The funeral convoy was on Highway 36, not even in the town of Hazzard, so these were people they didn't know. Bo noticed that the motorists had not only pulled over, but gotten out of their cars, the men removing their hats and placing them over their hearts. That was all Bo saw before he heard a strange sound beside him._

_Luke was crying._

_Bo didn't know what to do, but it didn't matter, because everything he tried didn't work. Luke cried during the rest of the drive to the cemetery, and then through the entire graveside service. Though he threw his own handful of dirt into the grave, Luke did not stop crying. No gentle words nor physical comfort offered seemed to reach the boy, and when the family that was now four instead of five finally got back home, Jesse took Luke off to bed, thinking he was probably just overtired from taking care of Bo and Daisy. The patriarch, suddenly seeming much older, admonished Bo to leave his older cousin alone. _

_With all of the more distant family now gone, the house seemed unusually quiet. Though he was currently confined to the living room, Bo could hear that Luke was still crying in their bedroom. As soon as his saddened uncle slipped outside to tend to the chores, Bo deliberately disobeyed his guardian's orders and headed for the room he shared with Luke. Even Daisy's threats of telling on him did not stop the boy. _

"_Lukas? How come you're cryin'?" If it was anyone else, Bo's question might have been foolish, but this was Luke; he never cried._

_As miserable as he was, the dark haired child didn't try to chase his cousin away, even when Bo sat on the edge of his bed, uninvited._

"_All those people on the side of the road…" Luke's voice broke and Bo watched him swallow a few times, trying to get control of himself. "They didn't even know Aunt Lavinia, and they was payin' their respects to her. How come she had to die before people could realize just how special she was?"_

_Bo didn't understand the question, really, and he was pretty sure that he couldn't answer it to Luke's satisfaction anyway. So he just climbed all the way up into the bed with the older boy._

"_I don't know," he said as his older cousin reached for him. The boys put their arms around one another and cried themselves to sleep._

* * *

They weren't kids anymore, either of them. Luke was just as likely to try to take care of himself now as he had always been, but Bo knew something about his cousin that no one else did. Though he seemed strong as an ox, and twice as stubborn, the older Duke boy had his vulnerabilities. When he was in trouble, he needed the partner that understood those weaknesses so he could counter-balance them with his own strengths. If he was in danger, Luke needed Bo. 

And, as an adult, Bo realized he did not need Jesse to sign him out of the hospital. He was sure glad that the nurse had intervened when she did, keeping him from having to promise his uncle that he'd stay put. The aching young man gingerly pulled the IV from his arm and forced himself upright to begin the search for his clothes, a task made rather challenging by the way the room insisted on whirling.


	8. A Means to Get Things Moving

_Hi all - thanks to everyone who read the last chapter, and double thanks to those who reviewed. Elenhin mentioned having recently attending the funeral of her grandmother - my condolences. Parts of the funeral scene in the previous chapter were, in fact, taken from my own grandmother's funeral. Where I grew up, no one would have pulled off the road and showed their respects, but where my grandmother died and was buried, they did. Obviously it touched me, and when I was reminded of that funeral procession by a discussion with Hazzard Husker, I knew I had to use it for our boys._

_As for the Martha/Lavinia debate, I think that the original writers frequently left us with more questions than answers. I don't believe in a "right" or a "wrong" with regard to these things. I just prefer the name Lavinia._

_Disclaimer: If they were once married to Lavinia, or were her neice or nephews, or are lifelong friends or enemies of her family, I don't own them. If they've recently shown up in town, odds are that they are mine. Regardless, I'm not making any money from them._

**Chapter 8 – A Means of Getting Things Moving**

Enos was really glad that Daisy had headed off to the hospital, but not exactly for selfless reasons. Well, he did think it was a good thing that she'd gone to see Bo and get Jesse's help, but right now that wasn't the foremost reason he was happy she had gone the exact opposite direction from where he was right now.

The deputy had been headed for town, thinking very seriously about where to look for any signs of unusual activity, or, if Luke had decided to hide in town, where he'd be. Then he'd let his concentration slip for a mere moment, and he'd remembered the sad way Daisy had been looking at him as they'd looked through the house and talked about what might have happened to the oldest Duke cousin. Enos wanted so much to take away Daisy's pain and fear. He'd allowed himself just one second to imagine that he'd been bold enough to pull her into his arms…

And suddenly he was back in the present, sunk up to his hubcaps in the mud of the ditch that ran along Cedar Cliff Road. Great help he was going to be to his favorite girl and her family, stuck like this. He was just about to call Rosco to come pull him out when a white Crown Victoria showed up beside him. Even as distracted as he was, the local lawman knew an unmarked state cop car when he saw it. Enos tipped his hat up on his head a little in greeting.

"Howdy, sir, what can I do for you?"

A slight upward curvature of the stranger's lips was enough to make him seem that much more approachable, though Enos had already decided that this was a friend. He might not be in uniform, but they were on the same side of the law, and that was all the deputy needed to know.

"Stuck, son?"

"Yes sir, kinda," the Hazzard lawman admitted.

"Then it's what I can do for you," the larger man said, pulling to the side of the road and unlocking his trunk to reveal a good fifty foot length of chain. As the two men began to hook the links around each of their bumpers, the owner of the Crown Vic spoke again.

"And in return you can tell me what you know about drug trafficking through these parts."

"Huh?" Enos was sure he hadn't heard the man right. Drugs in Hazzard? Moonshine, sure. But nothing even as serious as marijuana, no way. Enos only even knew what narcotics were because he'd had to study about them in order to become a sheriff's deputy.

Misunderstanding the other man's confusion, the stranger pulled out a badge.

"Inspector Willet, Georgia State Police. I'm in Hazzard because we traced a drug trafficking ring to this area. I met with Commissioner Hogg and Sheriff Coltrane this morning; I assume they've debriefed you?"

"Debre-… No I'm sorry sir, I don't know what you're talking about. Well, we did go to the Duke farm earlier today looking for those boys in connection with illegal intoxicants, but they was just picking stuff up for the local veterinarian."

"Duke farm, huh?" They had both cars hooked up by now, and the only thing keeping them from freeing Enos' car from its muddy resting place was this conversation.

"Yes sir. I just came from there, too. Seems someone's broke in there and tore it up, and now Luke Duke is missing. In fact, I was just headed into town to see what I could find out when I…" The young deputy trailed off. Though the other man could clearly see he'd driven himself into a ditch, that didn't mean he had to tell him exactly how it had occurred.

"Hmm, Deputy…"

"Strate. I'm sorry, Deputy Enos Strate, sir, at your service."

"Deputy Strate, it sounds like maybe what you're looking for and what I'm looking for might be the same thing. Mind if I join you on your search?"

Enos' grin was brighter than the lights atop his cruiser. "No sir, don't reckon I'd mind at all."

A few minutes later, a somewhat dirty Hazzard County patrol car and a white Crown Victoria made their way towards town.

* * *

"Stop!" Wooster screamed for what felt to him like the hundredth time, though it was maybe only the fifth. 

Not content with knocking the older Duke boy out, Frank had been beating the prone man with the chair. At least he hadn't hit him in the head again, the doctor thought.

When Frank finally did stop swinging his weapon of choice and sat down for a minute to rest, Wooster crawled away from where he'd been cowering in under the lab table, and approached Luke. He wasn't at his best with human patients, but he could at least make sure the boy wasn't in any real danger of dying.

The doctor knew he'd screwed up his life, and more than once. Over the years of his addiction he'd seen a lot, and done some things he wasn't proud of. But at least when he was selling drugs, he'd never had to see the result of his deeds, at least not directly. Here, now, looking at Luke Duke, who was out cold, bleeding from the temple, and whose breath was coming raggedly through split lips and a bloody nose, Mark Wooster could see for the first time exactly how badly things could go in the illegal drug trade. He wanted out, but he was too far in. About all he could do would be to try to provide some medical attention to this boy.

* * *

Bo Duke hobbled out to the parking lot on the crutches he'd just been given by a very frustrated nurse who did not want to complete his release paperwork. 

"Go back to bed!" she'd ordered, when she saw him stumbling in her general direction, putting as little weight as possible on his right foot, which was only protected with an ace bandage for now.

"No ma'am, I'm sorry, I can't," the blonde said arranging his face into what he hoped was a charming smile and not a painful grimace.

When she knew what Bo was up to, the nurse had tried her best to hold up the release procedures until Doc Petticord was available, but the boy had rushed things along as best he could and managed to get all the paperwork done before the country doctor had completed whatever surgery he was currently engaged in.

"Dear," the nurse said to him, more gently than she'd spoken a few minutes before, "at least use these." She'd handed him crutches, which he'd taken gratefully. Bo knew that with what probably lay ahead for him he'd probably have to ditch these aids eventually, but the more he could rest that leg now, the better he'd be able to use it when he needed to.

First things first, though, and the blonde was in a quandary. He'd been in such a hurry to get out of the hospital that he hadn't considered how he'd manage to do what had to come next. He was headed for Luke, that much was a given, and he had a pretty good guess as to where he might find his cousin. But that location was quite a few miles from here, and Bo was without wheels.

There were, of course, plenty of cars around him, and hotwiring came almost as naturally to the boy as kissing did. Both of these talents were a means of getting things moving that were otherwise stuck, and while hotwiring was not quite as much fun, Bo had a one hundred percent success rate with that, and no matter how he tried, he couldn't say the same of kissing.

He had already gone against his uncle's wishes, and though he was not a child anymore, he really didn't want to keep disappointing the man who'd raised him. There was no question in his mind that if leaving the hospital was disagreeable to his uncle, stealing a car in which to do so would only be worse. But what else could he do?

Indigo eyes searched the lot for an answer, and finally settled on Doc Petticord's Olds 88 Futurmatic, which was maybe as ancient as the doctor himself. There were plenty of more useful cars around; a Trans Am here and a Corvette over there, but Doc's car had one advantage. Bo knew that the family friend would lend it to him if he asked. He just didn't have time to ask right now, and permission was only a formality anyway. Convinced that hopping into Doc's unlocked car was borrowing and not theft, Bo pulled at the steering column and allowed his fingers to do their thing.

* * *

Stopping at the final still site they had gone to check, Daisy and Cooter finally sat down to talk about Luke. They both thought they knew him well, and therefore should have a pretty good idea of where he would go to hide. 

"We ain't checked all the old barns on other people's farms yet," Daisy suggested, remembering a time when Luke was 15 and had decided he didn't need cousins or even an uncle anymore. He'd disappeared one day, and returned two days later, hungry, guilty and genuinely sorry, though Jesse had taken him out to the barn and reinforced the lesson all the same. Later he'd told both Daisy and Bo where he'd hidden: the long since abandoned barn at the north corner of the Watkins' property, less than a mile from home.

"I don't know," came the not particularly hopeful reply. "There's so many of them, and I can't shake the feelin' that he's at the garage waitin' for me." Ever since the boys had been put on probation and Rosco had joined Boss Hogg in his attempts to frame them, Bo and Luke had considered Cooter's garage their home-away-from-home, literally dropping in on him from the rafters all the time.

"We sent Enos there already."

"I know, but why would he come out for Enos? Them cousins of yours ain't exactly known for volunteering themselves to the law."

"Cooter! If Luke was there, you know he'd have the CB on. He'd hear us talkin' to Enos and he'd know Enos was workin' with us!"

The mechanic and the waitress sat in silence for a minute.

"I'm sorry Cooter, I didn't mean that…"

"I know, sweetheart, you're just worried. It's okay," he said, putting his arms around her carefully, trying not to transfer too much of his grime onto her pretty white blouse.

A more companionable silence followed, then Cooter suddenly pulled away from his female friend, far enough to look in her eyes.

"Daisy?"

"Huh?"

"What if Luke wasn't runnin' from something? What if he was runnin' to something? Didn't you say Jesse told him to stay home instead of going to the hospital?" Daisy's eyes brightened at the idea.

"But I was just at the hospital and Luke wasn't there. Though maybe he was hidin' out, waitin' for Uncle Jesse to leave?"

"No, that don't make sense. You woulda seen the General somewhere in that lot, and he wouldn't think Uncle Jesse was goin' anywheres anyway." Cooter was losing faith in his own idea.

"No, you're right, he wouldn't be there…"

All of a sudden Daisy's demeanor changed; she sat up straighter, her eyes lit up, and she snapped her fingers. She'd never looked more like her missing cousin than she did right at that moment, Cooter thought.

"I got it! I think I know where Luke went. Come on!" she shouted, grabbing the mechanic's hand and tugging him upward without even explaining herself. "Let's go!"


	9. No Such Thing as Off the Hook

_Thanks to everyone who has been reading all along, and special thanks to those who have been reviewing. Alerts have been down, so I haven't been replying to reviews, but now that they seem to be creeping back, well, I'll be more responsive._

_Disclaimer: Most of them are not mine. A few of them are. If you don't know which is which by now, you need to go out and buy some DOH DVDs. Hmm, this disclaimer was _not_ brought to you by your local DVD retailer, even though it sounds like it was..._

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Chapter 9 – No Such Thing As Off the Hook

"Jimmy, my boy! Why, I've been looking for you all day!" Jefferson Davis Hogg was not accustomed to being made to wait, and truth be told, he was somewhat annoyed. But even his stupid sheriff could be right on occasion, and this was one of those times. Jim Halloway was mean. Boss didn't see the point in riling him up unnecessarily.

"Hogg." The man answered simply, and his tone gave no indication whether he was happy or not to hear from the commissioner. This only made the man in white more eager to please him.

"I got somethin' real special for you, if you can meet me. This stuff is worth ten, twelve thousand at least." The Boss's adding machine had just about overheated while calculating the options, and he had quoted the high end, of course.

Halloway sighed at the other end of the line, and Boss realized that he was going to have to do an ever bigger selling job in order to get and maintain the other man's interest.

"What you got J. D.? I already told you I don't handle moonshine."

"No, no this ain't moonshine. This is stuff that's right up your alley! And prime, I'm sure. But, uh," the Commissioner hesitated for just a moment, knowing that this next part would hurt his sales pitch, "I'm gonna need you to tell me what it is. I mean, I know it's good stuff, but I don't know exactly what kind of good stuff it is."

Another sigh. "How do you know it's worth $10,000, if you don't know what it is? No, never mind. What makes you think it's any good? I've been out there on too many wild goose chases."

"I know it's good on account of where I got it. My sheriff busted a couple of country boys runnin' it into the county."

"Pshhh. What makes you think a couple of hicks are carryin' something that I'd want? Hogg, if you're wasting my time again…"

"No, no, it's not the boys that he caught but the person they was runnin' it for. We got ourselves a new large animal vet'rinarian out here in these parts, and they was bringin' it to him. So you know there's gonna be some heavy-duty narcotics in there, if they're gonna work on livestock."

"Wait a minute. Are you telling me that you intercepted a shipment intended for the veterinarian in Hazzard?"

Pleased that he finally seemed to have gotten the other man's attention, Boss gleefully answered in the affirmative.

"Then I guess I do owe myself a trip out there. All right Hogg, the usual place at eight PM."

"Eight, well, that's dinner time. My Lulu…"

"You'll be there at eight, Hogg."

"I'll be here at eight," the man in white confirmed and hung up the phone. After barely taking the time to light himself a cigar, Boss keyed his CB microphone.

"Rosco…"

* * *

The ringing phone at the veterinarian's office was a mere distraction for the doctor, but to Frank it was a godsend. He'd been doing what he was hired to do, beat the daylights out of someone, when that stupid doctor had hollered for him to stop. Now he was stuck sitting here while that blubbering vet tried to take care of the guy. And somehow, even though he'd only been doing what he was supposed to, Frank came away feeling kind of bad. Which certainly wasn't the way he wanted to feel. So a chance to walk away from the hayseed on the ground and the poor excuse for a man that was kneeling next to him and holding a bloody cloth to his head, was very much welcomed. 

The goon was even happier to hear his boss's voice on the other end of the line. Maybe he'd get out of here now, away from this doctor and all this thinking. At least the plowboy he'd clobbered had put up a good fight before going down.

"Boss, we had a little problem here. Some farmer was here in the office. I had to beat him up pretty good."

"Is he indisposed?"

"For now."

"Good enough. Put Wooster on."

"Boss, he's not really doin' that great."

"I don't care, put him on the phone right now!"

Frank did as he was told, and Wooster took the phone with a shaking hand that was crimson with Luke's blood.

"All right, good doctor, you might just be off the hook."

In the last thirty minutes, Mark Wooster had come to know that there was no such thing as "off the hook" for him. Even if the man on the other end of the phone were to disappear and never threaten him again, he'd still have his past, which included not only addiction, but also selling illegal substances. And God knew how many people he had hurt, like Luke Duke, still laying there, unconscious. He had not been the one wielding the chair, but he might as well have been.

Wooster just grunted in response.

"You and Frank need to meet me over here so we can all go and find out whether I've actually succeeded in locating what you lost, due to your… indiscretion."

"But, there's a boy here, he's hurt; I need to take care of him."

"You'll leave him right where he lies. And you'll cooperate with Frank. Because what he did to that boy is nothing compared what I'm going to give him permission to do to you. Now put Frank back on!"

Without another sound, the resigned vet handed to phone back to the hired muscle. Of course, he couldn't hear what the man at the other end of the line said, but that was probably just as well, because he didn't want to think too hard about it. At least the boy on the floor had stopped bleeding, even if he hadn't woken up yet.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Halloway," Frank said before hanging up the phone and grabbing Wooster by the arm, leading him to the door.

* * *

Daisy and Cooter had decided that the mechanic's wrecker was the best mode of transportation to get them where they were going. They wanted to rush immediately to their destination, but they needed to hold a quick powwow first. 

"Enos Strate, you got your ears on?"

"Hi, Daisy!" the deputy answered, forgetting all about proper police radio protocol.

"Enos, we've got an idea about finding Luke, but we need to talk first. Can you meet us at the farm?"

"10-4 Daisy, but it'll take me about a half hour to get there. I'm in town."

Daisy thought for just a second before answering.

"You just come on out to the farm, please, sugar?"

"You got it Daisy," the young man answered, his face a giant smile until he reminded himself of two things: Luke was in danger, and there was another cop behind him that he hadn't consulted about the change in plans. He pulled over and filled Willet in.

* * *

His uncle's influence, even when the white haired man wasn't right there in front of him, sometimes put a crimp in Bo Duke's style. Like the ridiculous situation he found himself in right now. The car he'd "borrowed" hardly moved any faster than his own feet would have, even taking into account that he'd have to hop, thanks to his sprained ankle. And the old tank had no CB in it, either, so he couldn't get a hold of anyone who could help him get to Luke faster. 

Mashing his foot onto the gas pedal yet again, Bo whimpered in pain. It wasn't like the car could go any faster than it already was. But pressing the accelerator this way made the boy feel like he was doing something. Even the pain that the action caused him served a purpose. It kept the darkness at bay, not allowing it to consume his consciousness the way it wanted to.

Driving was always second nature to the blonde; even Luke would occasionally admit that Bo was more of a natural behind the wheel than he was. But now it seemed to be his nemesis. Maybe it was the vehicle; it didn't handle like a race car at all. Maybe it was the lack of speed. Bo didn't know how anyone could keep control of such a slow moving thing. Whatever it was, it seemed that the frustrated Duke boy had all he could do to keep the car between the ditches as he did his best to hurry to his cousin's side.

"Lukas…" he said, not even aware that his lips had moved.

* * *

Jesse hated that all three of his kids were in jeopardy, and not even together. If they were all in one place, he could count on Luke thinking their way out, or if that didn't work, Bo would punch their way out, and if that still failed, Daisy could charm their way out. But this way, they were in three different places, each having to rely solely on their own talents. At least Bo was relatively safe in the hospital, that was, until Rosco found him. Luke was clearly in some kind of trouble, and now Daisy and Cooter were headed right into the middle of it as well. 

He prayed their theory about Luke's whereabouts was wrong, actually. He was still hoping that his oldest would come home with a sheepish look on his face and admit he'd been outrunning Rosco all afternoon, despite his uncle's warnings. He'd be angry with the boy, and he'd let him have it, but then he'd grab him into his arms and hold on for as long as the retired Marine would let him. Because it would mean that Luke was all right.

If Daisy was right, Luke might really have gone right into the hornet's nest, and it would be all Jesse's fault, really, for not letting him accompany his cousin to the hospital. He turned his thoughts away from that direction, through sheer force of will, and went out to check on Maudine. Enos would arrive at the farm soon, and it was Jesse's role to stay behind and relay Daisy's plan to the cop. Meanwhile his only niece and his boys' best friend had rushed away, quite possibly straight into the heart of the danger.

* * *

The sun's long evening fingers reached right into the bushes and pulled out a small orange reflection. Despite his pain and wooziness, Bo was still a former 'shine runner, and he knew about hiding cars. He hadn't needed the confirmation of his cousin's location, but now he had it anyway. Only Luke would stash the General Lee in just that way. Bo placed Doc Petticord's much abused old hunk of tin right behind the car he shared with his cousin, and going as gently as he could on his battered body, set out on foot and crutch for the veterinarian's place of business. 

While he didn't see any other vehicles around the building, Bo couldn't take a chance on charging in there at full speed. He'd fight if he absolutely had to, but he knew he wouldn't last long if he did. Listening intently, Bo circled as far around the office part of the building as he could, doing his best to find the level ground that would support his crutches. He stumbled once or twice, forcing him to suddenly put weight on his injured leg. Never known for keeping quiet when he was in pain, Bo somehow managed to bite his tongue all the same. The only thing he had going for him right now was the element of surprise.

However, his caution was wearing on him. With each movement, his exhaustion only increased. So after going around the building, cocking his ear at every door, window or crack, and hearing nothing, Bo decided to move in. He'd made his way back to the office door only to find it locked. The blonde was getting frazzled. He'd planned about as much as his fuzzy brain would allow him to. Besides, action had always been Bo's friend, and he was sure it wouldn't fail him now.

Grateful at last that he'd needed artificial support in order to walk, Bo lifted his left crutch and, with a loud rebel yell, snapped it quickly through the window nearest the door. He immediately flattened himself against the building, expecting everything from shouts to gunfire to erupt from within. When he heard only the tinkle of glass, he slid up to the window and looked in. It was getting difficult to see in the twilight, but there didn't seem to be any movement from inside, so Bo used his crutch once more to clear away as much of the remaining jagged glass from around the window frame as he could. He and Luke would have to replace that pane, he knew, as soon as they got a chance. But, of course, he would have to find Luke first, and with that thought Bo's urgency was renewed.

Leaving behind the tools that had helped him walk, Bo crawled through the window, calling for Luke. He was starting to think that Wooster had somehow made off with his cousin, though he wouldn't have been able to do so without a gun, Bo was sure. There was no way Wooster could have overpowered Luke.

Finally, as he came around the lab table, in the dim orange light that remained in this building, the blonde saw a form on the floor.

"Luke!" He shouted, moving quickly towards his cousin. Finally, just as he got close enough to reach for the older boy, the day became too long for him and, just like the sun, Bo went down.


	10. La, La, La I Can't Hear You

_Thanks to everyone who has been reading all along, and special thanks to those who've reviewed._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in this chapter (except for the briefly mentioned state trooper). I borrowed them, but they are not making me any money._

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Chapter 10 – La La La… I Can't Hear You!

The phone was ringing. In a moment of indecision, Jesse stood where he was. Finally, he turned back towards the house. It could be Luke, after all, calling to tell him that he was actually in jail, needing bail money. Jesse would almost welcome that by now.

Enos had arrived only moments after Daisy and Cooter left. The Duke patriarch was particularly relieved to see that the Hazzard deputy wasn't alone, and to learn that the man accompanying him was a state cop. Looked to be solid and smart, too, which Jesse appreciated. Enos was eager, no one could ever fault him for not trying his hardest. But he was less than seasoned, and terribly naïve. While this frequently worked in the Dukes' favor, Jesse didn't think it would tonight. However, this man that introduced himself as Inspector Willet would certainly be an asset to the half-baked operation that Daisy was trying to launch. Jesse sent the two cops after his only girl.

Having fulfilled his frustrating role as conveyer of information, Jesse was just getting ready to join in the action himself, heading for his pickup, when the phone rang. As quickly as his heavy frame would allow, Jesse turned and re-entered the farmhouse.

"Jesse?"

Oh lord, he had not expected to hear Asa Petticord's voice on the other end of the line.

"What's wrong with Bo?" Jesse asked, skipping the customary pleasantries of small town interaction.

"Well, I don't know Jesse, I was kinda hoping you could tell me. I guess he hasn't made it home yet, then?"

"Home? What are you talkin' about, Asa?" Jesse roared.

"Well, I only guessed that's where he'd be headed… but I don't know how he was gettin' there if you didn't pick him up."

"Pick him up? You'd better start talkin' sense now, Asa…" the Duke patriarch threatened. He was not really angry at the old doctor, but simply about at his wits end when it came to his nephews.

Doc Petticord had known Jesse since he was a boy, and he knew how to handle him when he got a little hot under the collar.

"Jesse Duke, you just settle down, right now. I ain't so old that I couldn't still whoop ya."

Remembering his manners with an elder, Jesse bit his rough tongue and said, "I'm sorry Asa. Just, please, tell me what's going on with Bo."

"I'll tell you what I know Jesse," the doctor said gently. He was fully aware of how Jesse worried over those boys, and they sure had a habit of giving him reasons for his concerns. Why, if the old Doc got paid like the big city medics, fixing up the Duke boys alone would have made him a millionaire. "Bo checked himself out of here an hour ago. Before you ask, no, I wasn't here when he did it. I was in surgery, or I would have called you right away."

"Well, where'd he go?"

"I don't know. I assumed you was pickin' him up. Maybe Luke came and got him?"

"No…" Jesse said. "I don't know how he thinks he's gettin' there, but I know where that boy is headed. Thank you, Asa!"

"You're welcome. You take… care," the doctor stopped as he realized he was talking to a dial tone.

* * *

Now that he was finally on the move, Jesse could think more clearly. He should have known that things would go this way. Those boys of his had selective hearing. As Jesse drove towards the setting sun, a dozen different images of the two of them invaded his mind. 

_Bo was still a good bit smaller than Luke, but he'd learned to use that to his advantage. Speed was in Bo's blood, and his lighter frame allowed for a lot of it, especially in the water, where Luke's weight held him back. Jesse had taken all three of his kids to the swimming hole, and on this particular day, Daisy had chosen to stay dry, sitting on the bank with her uncle, and watching the boys. She was becoming a young woman, despite her own wishes, and she was trying to make the best of that situation, joining in play with the boys from time to time, but mostly growing into the woman of the household, long before she should have had to._

_As uncle and niece enjoyed one another's company on the bank, Bo called to them to watch him and Luke. They were going to race from about halfway across the pond right up to the shore, and they wanted their uncle to time them on his pocket watch. Getting into the spirit of the competition, Daisy yelled for them to go, and they were off. _

_Neither had ever really learned to swim properly, other than what they'd taught themselves. Their form was terrible, but they made pretty good time all the same, Luke relying on his strength and Bo on his agility. They were neck and neck, heads above the water and grinning like crazy as they each tried to beat the other. Those two were closer than Jesse had even hoped they'd be, especially considering the four-year-plus age gap. But now, coming towards the shore, they were too close for the task at hand. As it came out of the water, Luke's elbow caught Bo's chin, knocking the younger boy sideways before he disappeared below the surface._

_Games forgotten now, Luke grabbed for his cousin, and, despite his own limited swimming skills, got the boy's head above the water. Jesse had run to the shore, but before he could even wet his feet, he saw that Luke had things under control. Bo was conscious, though in some pain. The older boy was bringing him to the shore and keeping him calm. For the first time, Jesse realized that those boys might just be getting old enough not to need him any more._

_- - - - - _

_A few summers later, and Luke was just finishing high school the year before Bo could begin. The older boy had been a handful to Jesse all along, challenging him on everything from chores to child-rearing techniques. While he was in school there had at least been football, which gave the teenager a physical outlet. There had also been girls, and calls from their fathers at all hours. The girls always said that Luke had been a gentleman, and they would have been back on time, really, if only his watch hadn't stopped. No matter how many different watches that boy was given, they always seemed to stop on a Saturday night._

_Now that Luke was out of school, he was more of a help around the farm and the stills, but he was more of a hassle when chores were done. He'd begun going out with friends to the Boar's Nest, and driving home somewhat less than sober. When Jesse wouldn't let him use the pickup anymore, he'd gotten himself a power car from that mechanic friend of his, Cooter. It was inexpensive, largely because they'd found it in a junkyard, and tinkered with it for months until they made it road-worthy. So now Luke had even faster wheels under him when he made those bad judgment calls. _

_The one time that Jesse's oldest seemed to focus, though, was when he was with Bo. The younger boy was preparing to join the high school freshman football team in the fall, and Luke was doing everything he could to teach Bo how best to use his smaller body. During the afternoon, when chores were done but before darkness, those boys would be out there, throwing, catching, kicking and tackling. Jesse tended to wince when this last part happened, but he noticed that even though the bigger boy would bring Bo down to the ground, he'd always cushion the fall so that his cousin never hit the dirt very hard. Whatever his rougher edges, Luke was gentle with Bo._

_The solution for Luke was the military, and when Jesse heard of his decision, he really couldn't argue with it. If ever there was a boy that needed structure, it was his Luke. For all that Jesse had tried to provide it, this young man was little too wild and angry for just one man to handle. The Marines would find the best in his boy, he had no doubt._

_So long as he didn't get killed out there._

_- - - - -_

_While Luke was away, Bo began to grow into himself. There was no question that the younger boy wanted his cousin back home, but what Jesse could see that Bo could not, was just how much he was emerging from Luke's shadow, and becoming his own person. While he didn't excel in academics, Bo was the first sophomore ever to play on the varsity football team. You could see how he differed from Luke right there in his style of play. While Luke would dodge and weave, avoiding the other players in his attempt to score, Bo would barrel right into the middle, counting on his strength and will to pull him through. More often than not, the blonde's technique worked. _

_Bo was also finding himself when it came to the girls. He'd always had a silver tongue, but he was just now learning to put it to real use. Unlike his older cousin, Bo had a way of making a girl feel special; he didn't rely on his looks alone. And whereas he brought the young ladies home every bit as late as Luke had, he never made excuses. He just admitted they'd been having too much fun to leave when they were supposed to._

_The younger boy had scared the living daylights out of Jesse with his boldness behind the wheel, though. All the kids learned to drive around the farm at a young age, and Bo had been no exception. He was so confident when it came to handling a car that Jesse had considered forbidding him from getting his license for a year after he was old enough just to keep him safe, but in the end had given in to the boy's pleas. Besides, they'd needed another driver in the family, if only to keep the farm and the stills running smoothly. And, reckless as he was, Bo did manage to keep the car between the ditches… at least, as far as Jesse knew._

_- - - - -_

_The Luke that came back from Vietnam was much calmer, if more distant. Jesse no longer needed to worry about him being irresponsible. His biggest concern now was that Bo seemed almost afraid of Luke, and it was clearly tearing the younger boy apart. Jesse didn't know how to intervene on this one; the boys still shared a room, and they were friendly, but they weren't close anymore, not like they had once been. _

_Jesse was afraid it would all come to a head one day when Bo had borrowed Luke's car and not come back at the agreed upon time. Luke was pacing in frustration; he had somewhere to be (a girl, for as much as Luke had changed, some things had stayed the same) and his childish cousin hadn't returned when he was supposed to._

_When Bo finally did walk through the door, he turned those indigo eyes to his cousin, silently begging for forgiveness before he'd even explained himself. For once, Jesse didn't think Bo was trying to use that big-blue-eyed charm to get out of anything; he seemed genuinely scared._

_And, for a moment, Jesse was scared for his youngest, watching Luke move towards him. But in the few seconds it took for the older boy to cross the room, Jesse relaxed, as Luke simply grabbed Bo into a hug and told him he was glad the boy was home, safe, whatever had happened. Despite how much he'd grown while Luke was away, this was enough to make the younger boy cry, and Jesse could have sworn he saw a couple of tears on Luke's cheeks as well. Finally the story came out of Bo: he'd been going too fast, he knew, but he wanted to get the car back to Luke in time. A deer had strolled out into the road, causing Bo to swerve. He hadn't missed the poor deer though, and it had suffered before it died. Luke's car had wound up in a ditch, the front end mangled, and the CB antenna snapped off. Without a word to Jesse, and with the evening's plans completely forgotten, Luke had very gently led Bo out the door to the pickup, telling him it was all right, they'd work together to get the car out of the culvert, and that the deer would feed them for a week._

Yep, Jesse should have known. Luke might hear his uncle talking, but he wouldn't listen, not if he thought Bo was in trouble and he could help. And, well, Bo would probably stick his fingers right into his ears so he wouldn't have to hear Jesse telling him not to go and help Luke.


	11. Won't None of Them Keep Still

**Chapter 11 - Won't None of Them Keep Still**

County Commissioner Jefferson Davis Hogg knew fear. He'd known it when he was a child and his family had lost what little they had during the Depression. He continued to live with it as he went through school taunted for the height he never attained, sometimes savagely beaten by bigger, tougher boys. Fear was a part of his daily life in his late teens and early 20's, when one of the meanest revenuers ever, Everett Thompson, had spent a decade tracking the liquor trade through Hazzard. And, as he'd dug himself out of the poverty into which he was born, the fear became somewhat dulled, but it was always there: fear of losing what he had amassed, fear of being poor again. Fear was his worst enemy and his best friend. For without the fear of a lifetime, he would not be what he was today: a wealthy, powerful, greedy and hateful man.

Other, smaller fears were pushed to the far edges of the fat man's mind. He wouldn't dwell on how badly a plot of his might end, only on the amount of money to be made. But sometimes fear could sneak right up on him, as it had tonight.

Jim Halloway was indeed mean. He held a gun on Boss Hogg right now, and was demanding the return of his valuable narcotics, the ones Hogg had intended to sell to him.

"Now, Jim, you know I'd never cheat anybody," Hogg tried, to no avail. "Leastwise not you. I didn't know you was hooked up with the good doctor here. Why, I didn't even know that what I had belonged to him," Hogg realized his mistake a second too late.

One of Halloway's giant oafs made a move towards the commissioner, flashing him back to those schoolboy beatings he'd endured.

"I mean, what I meant to say," Boss said, thinking on his feet, "was that I didn't know, at first, that what I had belonged to him. I thought it was something them Duke boys brought into my county, and I just wanted it out, you understand."

"Hogg, I don't have time for this jibber-jabber. Now you got something of mine and I want it."

"I do?" Innocence was never J. D.'s long suit, but he tried to play it all the time, just the same.

"Frank…" the drug boss said quietly.

"I mean, I do! Of course I do. And it's on its way here now. Why, my very own sheriff is bringin' it an' he'll be here soon, real soon."

"Sheriff?" The other thug that Halloway had brought with him was starting to sweat now. "Boss," he said, not noticing that both Halloway and Hogg reacted to the word, "we don't need trouble with no sheriff."

"Trouble? Rosco? Why he ain't no trouble at all. He's a little slow maybe, but he ain't no trouble," Hogg answered, reaching for one of the drawers in his desk. Halloway cocked his pistol, and the man in white instantly pulled his hand back. "I just wanted my lighter is all," he complained. "Anyway, I own Rosco, you ain't gotta worry about him."

"Well, just where is this 'Rosco' of whom you speak so highly?" Halloway asked.

"Oh, he'll be along directly." Thinking to ask permission this time, the commissioner said, "If you'll let me light my cigar, then I can call him on the CB right after I do that…" Seeing the look on Halloway's face, Boss added, "Or I could call Rosco first."

* * *

Enos and Willet were almost to the rendezvous with Daisy when they heard the call come over the radio. 

"Sheriff Cotrane, you got your ears on?"

"Gijit, this is Rosco Coltrane, what can I do for ya, little fat buddy?"

The irritation oozing from the man in white was apparent, even through the static of the police band radio.

"I ain't your little fat buddy, and where are you?"

"I'm, uh, I'm on my way, Boss." Though he'd prefer to think the best of the sheriff, Enos had learned over the years that the other man didn't always tell the truth, even to Boss Hogg. And from the way the sentence had been delivered, the deputy was pretty sure that Rosco wasn't being entirely honest. Enos even had a good guess as to where and how the older cop had distracted himself. That sheriff really did love his electronic speed trap sign, almost more than life itself. He must, because he'd dared to stop there, even though Boss sounded like he'd like to kill the sheriff right now.

It seemed that the commissioner could also read the sheriff's hesitation.

"Rosco, you stop messin' with that sign out there and get in here, pronto. And Rosco, bring the you-know-what. You got it?"

"Gyu, I got it Boss. I'm over and I'm gone."

* * *

Daisy could barely spot the General Lee, as it was not only camouflaged by the shrubs, but also was hidden behind another, much older car, that looked kind of like Doc Petticord's old classic vehicle. For a brief moment Daisy hoped that Doc really was there, taking care of Luke, whatever might have heppened to him. That idea faded instantly when Cooter pulled his tow truck toward the porch that ran in front of Dr. Wooster's office. Both the mechanic and the female Duke sucked in a breath as they saw the shards of a broken window and some crutches laying askew right in front of it. 

"Daisy!" Cooter grabbed his friend by the arm as she tried to jump out even before the truck had come to a full stop. "Now, we'd better be careful goin' in there. I know you're worried, but you ain't gonna help Luke none if you go barreling in there and get hurt."

"But, Bo…"

"Nor Bo, neither," Cooter finished for her, confirming that he, too, had figured out that the blonde was also inside of that office. "Besides, we'll need some light," he reminded her, grabbing his brand new maglite from behind the driver's seat. He was really glad for the weight of the thing – it could double as a weapon, if it needed to.

They made their way towards the dark office, listening. When they didn't hear anything, Cooter dared to turn the flashlight on and shine it through the broken window. Nothing. First Daisy then Cooter climbed in. Before Cooter's second foot was all the way down to the floor, Daisy was calling in a very frightened voice.

"Bo… Luke!" She knelt between them, speaking as gently as her fear would allow. Luke was slightly closer, so the touched him first, wincing at the gash on his temple and the bloody rag beside him. She checked his pulse and called to him, "Luke, honey, wake up. Talk to me now, Luke." Though he didn't respond, she at least knew the older Duke boy was alive. She turned to the blonde, sprawled out on his back and looking like he might have landed right on top of Luke then rolled off.

"Bo, baby, it's okay, just open your eyes, please…"

Cooter stood a little ways back, giving Daisy some space, until she looked up at him with the saddest eyes he had ever seen. As soon as he saw her distress he was at her side in an instant.

"Lukas, you old cuss, you just open them eyes now. Bo, don't you be sleepin' on me now, we got things to do, you understand?"

And much to his amazement, the younger cousin stirred.

"Oh, ow, my head," he said, opening his eyes right into the beam that Cooter was shining on him. "The light's… too bright." Bo squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

"Sorry buddyroe," Cooter said, turning the flashlight away.

"Cooter?" Bo asked at the same time that a hug came at him from above. No mistaking that body. "Daisy?"

"Shh, Bo, yeah, it's us," Daisy cooed.

Opening his eyes wide again, Bo called out in a half-panic, "Luke?"

"He's right here, baby…" Daisy said, trying to keep her younger cousin calm.

"I know he's there, Daisy," Bo answered through his headache. "I saw him earlier, when I came in. He was bleeding like crazy and out cold. How is he now?"

"Oh, baby, I'm sure he'll be fine," Daisy tried to soothe.

"Yeah, I'm gonna be all right, if you all would just quit makin' so danged much noise," Luke groaned.

Doing the opposite of what they were asked, Daisy and Cooter both greeted the newly conscious Duke with loud glee.

"Luke, honey, you're awake!"

"He Lukas, welcome back!"

"Uhh…" both boys groaned. "Take it easy, Dais-girl," Bo half-mumbled.

"Bo?" Luke's brain was slowly starting to work again. "You're here? Where's here? Are you okay?"

"Easy, cuz," Daisy answered for him. "You're in Dr. Wooster's office, and yes, Bo is here."

"An' I feel like I did when cousin Alice pulled that illegal wrestling maneuver and knocked me on my backside, but I'll be all right," the blonde added, slowly sitting up so he could get his first look at Luke's open eyes. "What about you?"

"Seems like Miss Lulu's been tap dancing on my chest. But I think I can manage to get up, if you can."

"I'm already halfway there, while you're just laying around moaning."

"Bo, Luke, now ain't neither of you getting up. You just stay put until Enos gets here, you hear? He'll take you to the hospital."

"Aw, Daisy, quit worryin' so much," Luke said, wincing as he moved to sit up. "It ain't nothin'."

"No way, Luke Duke! You lay down, Bo!"

"You gonna listen to her, cuz?" Bo asked, eyebrow cocked.

"Nope," Luke answered, finally sitting up on his own.

"Now boys, Daisy's probably right. You two ain't lookin' so good."

"Look who's talkin' Crazy C. I mean you're the one that's got three heads and all," Luke joked.

"I count four, and won't none of them keep still," Bo answered, shaking his own head.

"Your skull always was a little softer, Bo. We're fine Cooter. B'sides, we gotta figure out how to clear our names. Somehow we got ourselves into the middle of a drug smuggling ring, cuz."

When headlights suddenly flashed through the windows at the front of the building, Cooter went to be sure it was Enos and let him in. Lord knew enough people had broken into this office today.

"Hi Bo, hi Luke," Enos greeted as though he was just running into the Dukes at the grocery store. "How y'all doin'? This here's Inspector Willet from the Georgia State Police."

"State Police!" Bo only now understood just how much trouble he and Luke might be in.

"Easy, Bo," Daisy said. "He's friendly." As if to make her point Daisy rose from the floor and spoke to the burly cop.

"Nice to see you again, Inspector."

"Likewise, I'm sure," he answered with a smile, before getting down to business. "Listen boys, Enos here has told me what he knows about you all, and I think you got stuck in the middle of something you didn't even know about. So let's just exchange information and see if we can't catch the real bad guys tonight."

"Well, all I know is that Luke and me was workin' for this veterinarian, Dr. Wooster."

"Who was in turn working for one Jim Halloway," Willet supplied.

"Halloway!" Luke jumped in. "That's who that was! He was here earlier, with Wooster and a pair of giant apes, one of which…" Luke winced instead of finishing his sentence. Odds were he had a few broken ribs, the way breathing hurt him. "And they was lookin' for the drugs…"

"Which Rosco took off of us…" Bo jumped in.

"An' that's what Boss was askin' the sheriff to bring in just now!" Enos completed, very proud of himself.

"So everybody's headed for…" Cooter jumped in.

"The Boar's Nest!" More than one voice said it, though no one was concerned anymore with who was talking and who was listening.


	12. He Ain't Drunk, He's Just Like That

_Thanks to everyone who has been reading all along, and double thanks to those who have been reviewing._

_I don't own most of them, do own a couple, and you can undoubtedly tell who is who. Doesn't matter, though, 'cause none of them are making me any money. Not even 50 percent of 50 percent of any money._

* * *

**Chapter 12 – He Ain't Drunk, He's Just Like That**

Enos and the state trooper had taken off as soon as the information exchange was complete.

The three Dukes and their mechanic friend moved a little more slowly, Bo stopping to reclaim his crutches. When they finally made it to Cooter's tow truck, Daisy grabbed the CB.

"Bo Peep to Shepherd, you got your ears on?"

"This is Shepherd, Daisy, I'm on my way to you."

"Now Shepherd, there ain't no need to come here. The boys is both here, and they're gonna be all right, though they should see the doc later for sure. But first, there's trouble in town and I need you to meet me at the Boar's Nest."

"10-4, Daisy, I'm headed that way. You sure them boys is gonna be okay?"

Luke took the mic from Daisy.

"Yeah, Shepherd, we're fine."

"All right then, you boys get home. And you'll be answerin' to me later! You got it?"

Daisy grabbed the mic back, "I'll see that they get on home Shepherd. You just meet me at the Boar's Nest."

"10-4, Shepherd out."

Before he could stop her, Daisy reached into Luke's jeans pocket and grabbed the keys to the General Lee.

"Daisy!" he snapped.

"Now Luke, there ain't no sense in fightin' me, cause you'd lose, even if you could stand up straight without swayin', which right now you can't. Cooter, you take them boys home, you hear me?" Daisy called as she sprinted to the General's hiding spot and slid in through his window. "You boys behave for Cooter, now!" With a roar of his engine, the General barreled right through the shrubs he'd been hidden in, and was gone.

"Cooter," Bo began.

"Now, Bo, she's right. You boys ain't in no condition to be runnin' around the county," their friend answered, trying to corral them into the front seat of the truck. It was akin to herding cats. Luke stepped aside to keep from getting gently pushed into the vehicle by the mechanic.

"Now Cooter, we can't let Daisy go out there by herself."

"She ain't gonna be by herself, Luke, Uncle Jesse's gonna be there," Cooter tried to reason.

"Cooter, you know we ain't about to let Daisy and Jesse go after Halloway alone," Bo put in.

"They ain't gonna be alone, they got Enos and that State Mountie, too. Besides, I don't see where y'all have any choice," Cooter said, standing his ground as best he could.

"Well," Luke looked at Bo, "we could take Doc's car."

"Nah, you don't wanna bother with that, cousin; we wouldn't get there until next week. Besides, that there car don't drive straight. It don't want to stay on the road."

"Now, Bo, there ain't nothing wrong with that car. She ain't as fast as the General, but Doc had her in to me last week, and there ain't a thing wrong with her steering. If you couldn't keep her on the road, then it's you that can't drive straight, not the car, and that's why I'm takin' y'all home," their friend asserted.

"Too bad you keep insisting on takin' us home, Crazy C," Luke said, and the first signs that he might be all right after all showed in the twinkle of his eyes. "You're gonna miss a heckuva fight."

"A fight?"

"Oh yeah, it's got to be a beauty. Why, you seen that state cop. And then there's that hired muscle that Halloway's got…"

"All right, buddyroe, we'll go to the Boar's Nest, but you two are stayin' out of the fight, you hear me?"

"Of course, Cooter," Bo said with a grin, as they all, finally, began to climb into the tow truck. It was slow going, what with Bo on crutches and Luke moving about as quick as a turtle stuck in molasses, so as not to further aggravate those ribs of his. And both of them gave the distinct impression that at any moment they might lose their lunches.

"You boys look like crap, you know that?" Cooter volunteered cheerfully.

"Thanks a lot, buddy," Luke answered dryly.

* * *

Not so very long ago, Enos had run moonshine for his father, though to him it sometimes seemed like a whole different lifetime. The driving maneuvers he'd once mastered were growing rusty; even chasing the Duke boys on an almost daily basis hadn't kept his skills up to the level where they'd once been. 

Willet, on the other hand, was clearly at the top of his game, and Enos was having all he could do to keep up with the man.

As they were barreling towards town, a third police cruiser happened into their convoy, merging in from the High Ridge Road. Seeing the sheriff's car elated his deputy. Now he knew they'd get the crooks, what with his boss on the case.

"Enos! What are you doin' here? Get outta my way, wouldja? I'm the sheriff and I got things to do!" The words crackling over his CB reminded Enos that Rosco wasn't exactly on the same page as the other two cops. The deputy slowed a little to let the sheriff pass him, but he very quickly realized that the state trooper had other plans in mind.

Without saying a word, Willet slammed on his brakes, sliding his car into a 90 degree skid. The Hazzard County Sheriff's car was moving at high speed, and a simple application of the brakes wouldn't prevent catastrophe, so Rosco was forced not only to stop, but to swerve off the road. Enos, also, had to make some quick moves to avoid both cars, but he'd had a little more room for error, so the deputy simply slid to a stop behind the others, effectively trapping the sheriff. Not that he'd needed to; Rosco had been moving so quickly that his front wheels passed right over the culvert on the side of the road and were beached up on the bank on the other side. The rear wheels, on the other hand, were stuck in the ditch, spinning and kicking up globs of mud, one of which hit Enos square on the chest as he rushed to the aid of his superior.

Moving faster than a body that size ought to be capable of, Willet jumped the culvert and reached into Rosco's car, shutting down the engine.

"Ijit! Just what… I'm the sheriff here, what exactly do you think you're doin' pushin' me off the road. Gij! I'm gonna cuff you and stuff you and I'm gonna take you in, I mean it now, and then I'm gonna write you a ticket for drunk drivin'…" Rosco's fist was shaking in the air, hiding the fact that the rest of his body was quaking inside the car.

"It seems to me that I am not the one who's drunk," Willet responded calmly, but with eyebrows raised in concern.

"Oh he ain't drunk, Inspector. He's just… like that," Enos supplied, helpfully.

Rosco's eyes finally focused on the man he'd been threatening.

"Gyu." His mind was swirling, and he couldn't form a single sensible thought. This man was here to track down the illegal substance, which was currently in Rosco's own trunk. In the meantime, the closest thing he had to a friend, Boss Hogg, was dealing with Jim Halloway, alone, and that could be very dangerous. And even if Rosco could have gotten sufficient control over his body to restart the car and put his foot on the gas, well, it wouldn't go anywhere. He'd already proven that to himself.

"You okay, Sheriff?" The concern in his deputy's voice finally reached the aging lawman.

"Of course, I'm all right Enos!" Rosco snapped, then turned to the larger man. "Ijit! I got, I'm on duty, I ain't got time to be talkin' to you about your investigation right now."

"I'd think you'd make time, considering that your commissioner's in some danger, and I'm in a position to help you get him out of it."

"Gyu, well in that case…" Rosco opened his door and carefully stepped out. "I've got time. But not much! I think Boss might really have done it this time," he confessed.

* * *

Daisy had been closer to the roadhouse to begin with, and behind the wheel of the General, she got there in record time. Just as she was parking the car far enough from the building to hide her presence from anyone inside, Jesse pulled in next to her. 

"Now, girl, before we go rushin' in there, you tell me what's goin' on," he demanded.

"Oh , Jesse, it's a whole mess'a stuff. But the most important thing is that Bo and Luke _was_ haulin' illegal drugs, because Wooster was trafficking them for some guy named Jim Halloway. I never heard of him, but Luke knows who he is…"

Jesse's face was the very image of concern. "I know him, too," he said, very quietly. "Or know of him anyway. Jim Halloway – well back when you was just babies, he was makin' 'shine could blind a man, and he didn't care. Most of his customers was so darn poor they'd drink it anyway, just to take away their aches and pains. And it didn't bother him a bit! I ain't surprised he's moved on to sellin' drugs. It's the same thing, really."

"Well, anyway, Enos and the boys think that both Halloway and Wooster are in there," she pointed towards the Boar's Nest, "with Boss. And Luke says that there's also a couple of real big bodyguards in there as well."

"Leave it to J.D. to get himself in the middle of something like this. And of course, somehow your cousins got into the mess, too."

"Uncle Jesse, we ain't got time to talk about this anymore. We got to get in there."

"Oh we're goin' in, but you gotta get us in through the back door, and quietly."

Daisy pulled out her keys, and they approached the dark building. There was only one day of the week that the Boar's Nest was closed, and of course, that would be the day that Hogg would set up a secret meeting.

* * *

Cooter and the boys came in from the north side of the building, having cut cross-country to get there. With every bump and jostle that the rough terrain caused, Bo and Luke would grunt or groan, which Cooter figured served them right for insisting on doing this in the first place. All the same, he tried to take it easy on them, not wanting to make their injuries any worse. They were operating on pure adrenaline right now, he knew. One close look and there was no question that neither of these boys belonged on their feet at all. 

"There's the General," Bo pointed out needlessly; the orange car stood out clearly in the moonlight.

"But where's Daisy and Jesse?" Luke asked for all three of them.

Cooter placed his truck next to the Dukes' vehicles and jumped out to race around to the passenger side before those boys tried to get out on their own. He got there just in time to plant a hand in the middle of Bo's chest, keeping him upright and avoiding the imminent domino effect as Luke stumbled while trying to get out of the truck behind his blonde cousin.

"You two are about as coordinated as newborn pups."

Luke waved a hand in the air, "Nah, we're fine, Cooter, if you'd just stop worrying over us like some kind of a girl or somethin'."

"Buddyroe, ain't no one ever mistook this mug for a female, and you know it. Now you two just settle down. We'll find Daisy and Uncle Jesse."

No sooner were the words out of the mechanic's mouth than it became very clear where the missing Dukes were. Daisy's bloodcurdling scream, coming from the building in front of them, was unmistakable.


	13. A Heckuva Fight

_Thanks to everyone who has been with me all along, and double thanks to those who have been reviewing._

_Disclaimer: I don't own most of them. The ones I do own aren't worth a plugged nickel. The ones I don't own aren't earning me anything. Some of them are very nice to look at, though._

* * *

**Chapter 13 - A Heckuva Fight**

Considering the gash and swollen lump on the side of his head, Luke looked as though his skull had been cracked. The brain inside was clearly unscathed, though, at least judging by that "working on a plan" look in his eye. Immediately after hearing Daisy's scream, Bo had tried to hurry off to her defense, but there was only so much momentum he could get with his aching head and injured foot. Luke turned to grab onto his younger cousin, wanting to stall him long enough to come up with a plan, but the twisting movement made the older boy's stomach roll and his balance falter. Having traveled all of about three feet, both boys sank to the ground.

"Bo, that ain't the way," Luke managed, while Cooter struggled to make up his mind between yelling at them for their foolishness and helping them to their feet. Ultimately, he did neither, as the boys pulled each other up.

And now Luke had that look in his eye, while Bo personified impatience, and Cooter was starting to wish he'd never gotten out of bed that morning.

Luke headed for the trunk of the General Lee, and Bo's face brightened, guessing at least part of his cousin's plan.

* * *

Jesse had lost any semblance of the anger he'd felt for much of this day. Instead, he was overwhelmed by fear, though not for himself. Somehow he'd managed to get all three of his kids into trouble, and it had begun simply because he'd stubbornly chosen to use Maudine, rather than a truck, to haul logs. 

According to Daisy, the boys were both pretty well beaten up and needed some doctoring and a good bit of rest, but they'd be all right, and for that their long-time guardian was grateful. He and Daisy, though, were in deep trouble now. They'd come in through the back, supply room door, and were quietly making their way towards Boss's office when Jesse had accidentally tripped into the mop bucket, making an awful noise. One of Halloway's henchmen had been there in a second, gun raised, leaving Jesse concerned about kicking a whole different kind of bucket. So far Halloway, Wooster and the hired help had seen fit to leave him, Daisy and Boss alive, but Jesse wasn't making book on their long term chances.

"Hogg, your sheriff had better be here pronto, or you and your friends are gonna be sorry you ever tried to double cross me."

"Oh, these ain't my friends, they're just some no account Dukes is all," the man in white answered, avoiding Daisy's angry glare, "An' I wasn't double crossin' you, honest."

Before Boss could stumble through any more of an explanation, everyone's attention was drawn towards the main entrance to the bar, by the sound of the opening notes of _Dixie_.

* * *

Luke's signal reached Bo as he stood next to the cinderblock wall that was the outer barrier of Boss Hogg's Boar's Nest office. Leaning towards the hinges of the back door in the center of that wall, Bo did his part. 

"YEE-HAW!" he screamed as loudly as he could. His head rang in response to the noise, but there was no time to worry about that.

The metal door sprung open, and a mound of muscle emerged, holding a gun that, though it was very real, looked like a toy in the big man's hands. Cooter stepped forward from where he'd been waiting on the other side of the door frame, maglite raised high. The mechanic brought his arm down with a quick, firm motion, as if trying to smack a stubborn bolt loose from the frame of an ancient, rusted car. The goon went down and didn't move.

"Emmett!" There was a commotion from inside, indicating that more men were headed towards the duo by the door.

Both Duke and Davenport turned towards the building and shielded their faces as a thin line of flame zipped by them.

BOOM!

Following the explosion, the air was filled solely with the sound of dirt and rocks falling back to the ground and the smell of sulfur. After a moment or so, Bo heard a rough voice coming from inside.

"What kind of hicks are these anyway? That was dynamite!" With a thunk, the metal door slammed, leaving Bo and Cooter outside with one unconscious man. While the Duke boy grabbed the length of chain he'd brought from his stock car's trunk and wrapped it around the ape's wrists, Cooter ran towards where Luke was stashing his bow in the General's back seat.

Having done his best to secure his prisoner, Bo commenced to making as much noise as possible around the outside of Boss's office, rattling garbage cans, swinging his crutches against the door, and screaming.

"Yee-haw! Yip, yip, yip!"

Masking their own footsteps in all the noise that Bo was making, Cooter and Luke made the short trip to the main entrance of the building, where Luke pulled the screwdriver out of his back pocket and went to work on the locked door. When the Duke boy's careful picking efforts did not yield immediate results, Cooter motioned him away from the door, and timing himself with a _yee,_ brought his flashlight down on a _haw,_ breaking both the light and the doorknob.

Luke gave Cooter a half dirty look before quietly pulling the door open.

"What? It worked, didn't it?" the mechanic whispered with a shrug.

* * *

As agreed, the band of cops maintained radio silence and approached the Boar's Nest in standard code 4 procession: no lights, no sirens. Having abandoned Rosco's car where it landed after his ungraceful exit from the road, the two Hazzard County lawmen rode in Enos's patrol car, while Willet remained in his own unmarked Crown Vic. 

"Ijit! What the..." Rosco said, as he saw what looked very much like a bonfire, burning just a short distance from the back entrance to Boss's office. As the patrol car turned into the lot itself, the sheriff saw enough to put two and two together. "Them Duke boys is gettin' in the way of our plans again," he fretted.

Nevertheless, the trooper and the local law stuck to their plan and parked their cars a bit away from the building. Keeping low and quiet, Enos and Willet made their way to where Bo Duke was behaving very erratically. Willet quietly expressed concern for the boy, but the sheriff's deputy whispered back that Bo very likely had a reason for his behavior, and no, odds were it wasn't rabies. Meanwhile, Rosco snuck off towards the main entrance, knowing that wherever Bo was, Luke wouldn't be far away. He figured he'd be seeing the bright blue eyes of that meddling Duke boy soon enough.

He didn't figure on seeing them quite as quickly as he did, though. He pulled his keys out of his pocket, only to find them totally unnecessary, thanks to the vandalism wrought by those hooligan Dukes, no doubt. Refocusing his mind on the man in white, who was the closest thing he had to a friend, and his predicament, Rosco slid silently into the bar area, just in time to see someone whose body resembled that of Mr. Clean pointing a gun at a very wide eyed Luke Duke and Cooter Davenport. The sheriff had not yet been noticed, which gave him time to draw his own weapon, point it upward, and, for maybe the fifteenth time in his career, open a gaping wound into the plaster above him.

A lot of things happened at once: Luke kicked out, sending the goon's gun upward and across the seating area, where it ultimately struck the far wall, going off before it fell down behind the old upright piano in the corner; with a loud crash, the door at the back of Boss Hogg's office caved inward; and captains of all the various teams in the building shouted commands.

"Frank, pound 'em!"

"Save me, Rosco!"

"Deputy, to your left!"

"Duck, Bo!"

This last order was heeded as Halloway took a swing at the tall blonde. Bo lacked grace, not surprisingly, considering he only had one good foot to stand on. As the youngest Duke cousin went down, he took Enos with him, giving Willet a clear view of the room. Though there was utter chaos around him, Willet's eyes focused firmly on the form of Daisy Duke, tied and gagged, in the chair behind a large desk. Her uncle was in similar condition next to her, and while Willet made mental note of that, his true concern was the woman. While Halloway grappled with Bo and Enos, Willet placed himself between the drug lord and the only female on the scene.

About this time, three more men came tumbling into the room through the door to the bar. It had been wide open all along, and Willet had seen the three out there as clearly as they had seen in, but hadn't worried much about them, as they seemed to be fairly well engaged with one another. Now that they were close to him he could see that two of them were the other Duke boy and his friend, while the third clearly belonged to Halloway. They were involved in a pretty nasty looking fist fight, and despite the fact that it was two against one, it appeared that the one would emerge victorious.

Meanwhile, the sheriff could stand it no more. He saw Boss cowering in the corner of his office while bodies flew around him. Planning once again to shoot his mortal enemy, the ceiling, Rosco got a little over-eager and his finger jerked a tad before he intended it to. Everyone that wasn't tied down – cops, victims and villains – hit the floor as a bullet whizzed through the room before embedding itself in the antique writing desk in the corner. The only one still standing was the Hazzard Sheriff.

"Freeze! I got you now!" Looking around, he added, "Oh, I really do got you now. Well, khee-khee, don't nobody move, cause I got you now!"

"Can I move, Sheriff?" Enos requested.

"Well, of course you can move, you big dummy," came the gleeful reply. "You're my deputy ain't you?"

"Yes sir," Enos answered, his smile a mile wide as he disentangled himself from Bo and cuffed Halloway. Cooter, meanwhile, handed Frank off to Rosco for the same treatment. The state trooper was otherwise engaged, freeing Daisy from her bindings. The deputy borrowed Willet's cuffs from his belt and placed them around the wrists of Wooster, who'd been huddling between two filing cabinets all along, eyes squeezed shut.

"You can open your eyes now, Doc. It's all over."

"All over," the vet repeated, hardly knowing what he said, but understanding that it was the truth all the same. The life he'd wanted to reclaim was over. He was headed to prison for sure.

As soon as Halloway's muscle was secured, Rosco walked over to his boss, who seemed to be crying.

"Boss? It's okay now, kyu, Halloway and his giant goons are cuffed and stuffed. I did it, I did it! Just for you, my little fat buddy." Realizing that nothing he said seemed to soothe the man in white, Rosco followed Hogg's eyes to the antique desk, which was currently bleeding.

"Uh, Boss?"

"That was my chocolate liqueur stored in there. It's the best topping for ice cream that was ever made!" the commissioner cried.

"Well, you know Boss, it gave its life to protect you. It was very valiant, you know."

"Dat, Rosco!"

Having been freed by Cooter, Jesse finally got the chance to check on the others in the room. Daisy was in good hands, literally, as she was being held upright by the large, tough, but ultimately charming-looking state trooper; at least he appeared handsome enough with that giant smile spread across his face. Enos was guarding the prisoners while Rosco tended to Boss. Cooter was right by Jesse's side.

Stepping out from behind Boss's oversized desk, Jesse finally found who he was looking for, but not where he wanted to see them. Still on the floor, and semi-conscious, were Bo and Luke.

"Boys!" It was the last thing either of them heard before they each gave in to the darkness that had been beckoning all night.


	14. Over is Even Better Than 'Tween

_Well, folks, thanks to everyone who has stuck with this all the way through. And special thanks to those who've reviewed, especially the ones who've been faithful all along. _

_I do have something in the works, but it's probably a couple of weeks down the line. I have a self-imposed (and probably ridiculous) rule that I have to be close to done writing before I can start posting. At least it keeps me from posting something that will never get finished!_

_So in the meantime I will just be reviewing you all, which is almost more fun than posting, anyway._

_Disclaimer: If they're in jail, they're mine. If they're free, they're not, except for one very lucky state trooper. They're all so self absorbed - they're not earning me a dime! In fact, they don't even know I exist!_

* * *

**Chapter 14 – Over is Even Better Than 'Tween**

"Lester?" Bo giggled. "Lester?! Luke, did you ever hear a crazier name for a cop? Willet's first name is _Lester_?"

Daisy stood in the middle of her cousins' room, hands on her hips. Why did she ever talk those silly… boys, anyway?

"People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, _Beauregard_," Luke answered with a laugh, easily catching the pillow that Bo threw at him and settling it atop his own, beneath his head.

"Hey!" Bo complained, now that he had no cushion of his own.

"Still, Bo's right, Daisy. He's awfully… big, to have that kind of a silly name."

"Oh, and 'Luke Duke' isn't silly? Why I bet Lester and I will laugh about that one all night!" Daisy snapped. Then her voice came down a notch or two, and the tone turned teasing. "Besides, you all are just jealous that I'm going out on a date and you're stuck here under 'bed arrest.'"

"You know Luke, she's got a point there," Bo grinned, his head propped up on his hand so he could look over at his cousin.

Luke smiled softly. "That is a fact," he answered.

"You boys be good, now. You put Uncle Jesse through enough yesterday, so don't you make him go runnin' around for you today."

"Yes, ma'am," Luke answered, with a not-particularly-military salute. His female cousin leaned over to kiss his cheek while pulling Bo's pillow out from behind the older boy's head.

"Have a good time sweetheart," Bo told her as she returned to him what he'd so carelessly tossed away, then bent over to kiss him as well.

"Bye, Enos, sugar," Daisy said as she walked out of the boys' room.

As soon as the door was closed again, Bo turned back to Luke.

"You know, Jesse could have trusted us. He didn't have to go posting poor old Enos out there to keep us in bed."

"Yeah, and the poor guy agreed to come on his day off, probably hoping to hang around Daisy all day, and she's going out on a date with _Lester_." The boys laughed for a minute.

"I guess he was real worried about us, though…" Bo said.

"I was real worried about you, too, cuz," Luke admitted. "Not staying put. I told you I was going for help. Why didn't you trust me, and wait?"

"Huh?"

"Yesterday, when I left you in the Watkins' old shed, I told you I'd be back with Jesse. You should have trusted me, but you tried to leave on your own, and you only got hurt worse." Though Luke's tone was scolding, Bo could hear the underlying hurt.

"Aw, Luke, I trusted you… or I would have if I coulda thought straight at the time. I had kinda lost track of which one of us was in trouble. I thought I was going to find help for you…"

"Geez, Bo, it don't take much to knock the sense out of you."

"You neither," Bo countered. "What was you thinkin' goin' out to Wooster's alone?"

"I was thinkin' about clearin' your name, is what I was thinkin'. An' at the time, I didn't know that he was tied in with Halloway, neither."

"Well, you sure as heck scared the daylights outta me, lying there on the floor all beat up and bloody like that."

"Aw, Bo, I was fine."

The younger man snickered. "Fine, right. That's how come you're on bed rest for a week, with three busted ribs, six stitches, and a concussion to boot. Not to mention how awful you look with all them bruises."

"Shoot, cousin, you look bad even without bruises."

"Luke, I'm serious now. You coulda got really hurt."

"Look who's talkin'! You're always the one who goes runnin' off doin' stuff without thinkin' it through."

"I know I do, Luke, but I only do that when I know you'll be there to pull me back if it's too dangerous. I wouldn't do it if I was alone. And neither should you."

Luke had intended to keep defending his actions of the previous day, but found he couldn't. His younger cousin had a very valid point. The retired Marine's independent nature was useful in certain situations, but in this case it could very easily have gotten him killed.

Luke offered up a lopsided smile. "And they say I do all the thinkin'."

"Only when I let you…" Bo answered with a wry smile of his own.

"Just you wait, little cousin. Whenever this room stops spinnin', I am gonna pummel you."

Before Bo could offer a counter-threat, Jesse announced his presence through the door.

"Ain't nobody gonna pummel nobody, ya hear?"

"Yes sir," Bo answered for both of them, as their uncle entered without knocking or waiting for an invitation, then slammed the door behind him.

"And! I don't ever want a repeat of yesterday's performance, you understand me, boys?" Jesse poked his finger at Luke. "I told you not to go out lookin' for trouble. Stay home, I said. Don't go out in the General Lee. And what did you do?"

"Well, yeah, Jesse, I went out, but Bo was hurt…"

"And what happened? You got yourself just as hurt, if not more so! Bo's foot wasn't all that serious, but your ribs could have been!"

"That's just what I was tellin' him, Uncle Jesse," Bo said, proud that for once his uncle was siding with him.

"And you! Why, what you did was even worse! You was already in the hospital, banged up and with a concussion, but did you stay there like I told you to? No! And then there's your probation. You," again jabbing in Luke's direction, "Breakin' and enterin'. And you!" Jesse whirled back on Bo, "Grand theft auto! You know what? I think Doc Petticord's wrong. You boys ain't got concussions."

Luke's pounding head suggested otherwise to him, and was very likely to blame for his lapse in judgment when he chose to answer his uncle back.

"What do you mean we ain't got concussions?"

"Well, a concussion is a swelling of the brain, you know. And you boys ain't got no brains to swell. Now, I want you two to lie there and I don't want to hear anything about pummeling any_one_ or any_thing_, you got it?"

"Yes sir," came two mumbled replies.

"Good," Jesse finished, opening the door to leave. "And Enos, if either of those boys makes a move to get out of bed, I want you to use deadly force against them, you hear?"

"Oh, no, Uncle Jesse, I could never do that. Only if they was in danger of killin' someone else."

"Well, in that case, you boys is lucky." Finally, the Duke patriarch's voice softened, just slightly. "I'll bring you two some soup in a little while. Until then, I want you both to stop talkin' and start sleepin', you understand?" Without waiting for an answer, their uncle slammed the door closed once again, and silence fell in the room.

Waiting until he was fairly confident that Jesse was out of earshot, Bo called out quietly across the room.

"Hey Luke?"

"What now, cousin?"

"Which way is the room spinnin' for you?"

"Uh… clockwise. Why?"

"Just wanted to make sure we was goin' in the same direction this time."

Luke chuckled. "Go to sleep, Bo."

* * *

Two weeks later, Jesse harnessed Maudine for the first time in a month, then hooked up the old plow behind her. Taking it slow and easy, he began working the field nearest the house. The mule was fully healed, but hadn't worked in a long time, and Jesse wanted to be reasonably close to her stall, in case she tired.

"You know girl, you'd do well to listen to old Jesse from time to time. You might actually learn something."

The mule kept moving forward, nose raised and sniffing at the breeze.

"You ain't listenin' to me now, are you. I'm just wastin' my breath. An' I ain't got a lot of breath left to waste. You and them boys, don't none of you listen. I might as well be talkin' to the wind."

Maudine just plodded along.

* * *

Rosco was enjoying a few minutes of relaxing in the shade. He'd been able to do more of that lately, what with the Duke boys laid up and all. Though, in the first few days after the whole narcotics incident he'd been kept pretty active. First there was all the paperwork surrounding Halloway's arrest. It turned out that he was wanted in both Tennessee and Alabama, for murder, so there were two sets of extradition orders to which he'd had to respond. At first Boss had insisted he fight the extradition so that the county commissioner could try to bring in some extra cash by selling tickets to see the killer in the Hazzard jail. But Tennessee, in particular, felt strongly about their right to try the man, and threatened to sue the portly man in white. Almost before Rosco knew what had happened, Halloway was transported out of town the following day by two troopers from Tennessee. Hazzard was left holding two goons and one veterinarian, none of whom anyone would spend a nickel to see. All three were now in Atlanta, awaiting trial.

Then there was the fact that Boss had nearly gotten himself and Rosco into deep trouble this time. Willet had wanted to charge them with aiding and abetting Halloway, until the drug lord himself denied working with such amateurs. Then Willet suggested they'd tried to start their own ring, which wasn't far from the truth. Boss talked fast and furious and finally convinced the state trooper that he and Rosco had only kept the evidence because they, themselves, wanted to make the bust. After all, Hogg insisted, he abhorred illegal drugs, and he'd wanted to rid his county of them himself.

Finally, Willet had given up, thanks in part to Enos vouching for Boss and his sheriff. The deputy and the State Mountie had become fast friends. And, Rosco suspected, Willet was a little too distracted by the amount of time he was spending with Daisy Duke to care awfully much about proving that the commissioner was guilty. Hogg would never admit it, but he probably owed his continued freedom to a Duke. The commissioner was already mad enough that Wooster had immediately absolved the Duke boys of any wrong doing, eliminating any chance of charging them in connection with the crime.

Thinking of Dukes, the Sheriff heard a familiar roar on the road that ran past where his patrol car was idling. Sitting up straight, Rosco grabbed a toggle switch from where it was resting on his dashboard. Just as the first few notes of _Dixie_ played, the sheriff flipped the switch.

* * *

"Oh Lord," Luke commented, though if anything, his tone was casual.

"What?" Bo asked conversationally.

"Rosco's got his sign fixed."

"Told you we should have sunk that thing in quicksand," Bo answered, stepping on the gas even before they could hear the siren behind them.

"Quit talkin' so much and drive, would you? We don't need no more tickets."

"Sure we do. There's still that one empty spot on our wall, you know."

"Bo, look out!" Luke called, as the younger Duke seemed to be headed off the side of the road.

"Relax, Luke," the blonde answered, pressing on the accelerator and charging forward. At the last second, Bo changed his heading just slightly, finding a natural ramp on the edge of the road. The General lifted into a perfect arc, sailing cleanly over the drainage ditch at the side of the street, and disappearing into the trees. Looking back, Luke saw Rosco miss the rise and skid straight into the ditch, shaking his fist all the while.

With a rebel yell, the boys continued on their journey.


End file.
